The New Hero of Hyrule
by Freida5
Summary: what really happened to Hyrule after the OoT finished? the new Bearer of Courage will find out. You don't have to worry about me messing up the original characters because most of them are dead!
1. everyday trauma

Freida 5, back in action! this story takes place about fifty years after the ocarina of time game. it's only rated T for some of the language I let slip by. please review, I want to know if people like my style of writing.

I don't own any Nintendo brand settings or characters, but I made most of these people up anyway, so they're mine.

--

ch 1, Everyday trauma

"What is with that girl?"

"All she does is sit there and space out"

"Yeah that or draw those weird pictures"

"Just ignore her, she's probably crazy"

Rebecca just blocked it out. The group of freshman moved away, laughing. She stopped doodling just long enough to look up and catch the group of girls giggling at a table across from her. "Tch, chalk up three more" she muttered darkly and bent over her drawing again.

Rebecca paused to brush her shoulder length dark blond hair out of her face. She was pretty good looking, with a small nose, light grey eyes, but not exactly beautiful. Not to mention that all she ever wore were old tee-shirts and jeans that covered her lanky frame. She examined her picture. The pirate ship was turning out really sweet but she just couldn't get the cannons quite right…

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" A big hand slapped down on her picture and a shadow loomed over her. "Looks like someone left a giant dump in this seat."

Rebecca sighed and looked up into the face she hated most. Maurice Grisby tried to look intimidating with his slicked back, dark hair and permanently leering face, but his case of particularly bad acne and the fact that he was five foot four ruined his image.

His posse of huge 'friends' however made up for his lack of size. Three of them lurked right behind him, also smirking. Not that she cared about that now, they wouldn't pull anything serious in a crowded cafeteria. She snorted "Oh yes, so says the master of potty jokes. Seriously, you are how old?"

His smirk turned sour "I thought I told you not to come back to school this year. You make this place smell bad."

"Just because I have standards doesn't mean I have to skip town." She turned back to her drawing.

Maurice flushed angrily "You just wait. I'll get you back for last year! I might even pay you a visit after school today." With that he snatched up her picture and ripped it in half.

Rebecca rolled her eyes "Have a nice day" she said and pulled out another piece of paper to start again.

"You make me sick" he spat and stalked off, his guards trailing behind. Rebecca sat back and sighed again. She had hoped that he had forgotten the incident over his crime filled summer, but obviously he didn't. Her thoughts stretched back…

It had been the eleventh grade dance. Then wasn't much different from now, no friends, no dates, no social life. Then that slime ball Maurice asked her to go with him. She agreed, but not because she wanted to go. His dad was the mayor, and anything Maurice wanted Maurice got, or else. He certainly made that clear.

So she went shopping, got all dolled up, and had an okay time. To her surprise she actually enjoyed herself, dancing to the blaring pop music in the school gym. Maurice stayed with his posse most of the night and didn't bother asking her to dance.

But she soon found out the reason he had asked her out. When Maurice was going to drive her home, he stopped halfway to her house. He decided to get fresh and try to make a move on her. She had half expected this and slapped him hard in the face. Then she jumped out of the car and was about to walk home herself when she heard something that made her blood run cold: A swish and click. She turned around.

He had a knife.

That made her run. She hated the thought, but she ran for her life back to the school seven blocks away. She knew he was gaining on her when she saw someone. A tall man stepped out from an alley, but she ran past him. Then she heard the one sound that could have made her even more afraid.

The metallic scrape of a sword being drawn.

She wanted to scream but she saved her breath and ran faster than she had ever run in her life. Rebecca only stopped minutes later when she couldn't draw breath into her pain wracked lungs. She had doubled over but when she saw the shadow again out of the corner of her eye she forced herself upright and put her back to the wall, trembling. The man came out again and this time she could see that he was the weirdest thing she ever laid eyes on.

He seemed ancient. A long white beard covered his green tunic and white hair flowed from under a floppy green hat. Although he was hunched over with age he held himself like a man who was greatly respected. Then she noticed the sword hilt poking out behind his shoulder. Not only was that outlandish but it was _glowing._ She shrank a little as he came closer but he didn't draw. He held out his hand and said "Pease, don't be frightened. I got rid of him. Take this" She refused to move and the old man smiled. "I know you shouldn't take things from strangers, especially funny looking geezers like me, but it's important."

He also had a strange voice, an accent Rebecca couldn't place a finger on. But she was more worried about his sword than his voice. She reluctantly stuck out her hand. The man pressed something into her palm and something seemed to pop behind her eyelids. She felt like she was floating gently off the ground. This was insane! She was going mad!

The bell rang.

Rebecca started and looked up. Lunch was over. She packed up her books and paper and eyed the torn paper wondering whether to take it. Finally she decided anything _he_ touched wasn't worth having.

For the rest of the day she didn't pay attention to the teachers… not that she paid much attention anyway. She got detention for reading in Mr. Chip's math class.

By the time Rebecca got home she was in a foul mood. No one stopped her on the way home from school thankfully. The museum was only open till four, but her Mom always worked late. Usually she didn't mind coming home to an empty house, but her conversation with Maurice today left a foul taste in her mouth. Right now she needed something to do.

She trudged upstairs to her room. She gazed at the picture covered walls. Some were from magazines and some were her own but all of them depicted some kind of fantasy. Dragons, meca robots, princesses, knights, pirates, ninjas: it seemed childish to hold onto these pictures as a seventeen year old, but she just didn't have the heart to throw them away. Plus, it was way better than the ugly flowery wall paper underneath.

Rebecca flounced on her bed and rummaged under her pillow. Maybe if she could find her favorite writing pencil she could try her hand at the fan-fic of that movie she saw last week… her hand brushed a wooden box and she shivered. But something made her take it out. She opened the lid slowly, like the thing inside might bite her, but all that was in there was a piece of jewelry.

That night when the man had given her something, it made her pass out. She woke up in her room with this clutched in her hand. It was a small golden triangle attacked to a chain.

She tried to figure out how the chain was attached but it seemed to be flawlessly welded to the pendent. _Almost like magic_ she thought with a snort and made to stuff it back into the box, but again something compelled her. Rebecca slipped the chain over her head and without warning jumped out of bed and dashed down the stairs and out the door.

There she stopped, wide eyed. What was going on? But just as she thought that her body sprang into action. She ran down the street and around corners. She tried to stop but her legs kept sprinting. She tried to call for help at the people rushing by but a power had gripped her mouth shut. At last she stopped in front of a large building with pillars. This was the museum her mother worked at.

But that was impossible! She had only been running for three minutes tops, and this was at least a fifteen minute drive from her house! She gripped the pendant tightly and was about to turn back when something flew past her head. She froze, eyes widened as she heard laughter. She turned slowly and saw the only thing that could make tonight worse.

Maurice and a gang of five burly boys laughed at her and he hefted another rock. She ducked and they started laughing even harder. "Look what I found guys!" he said with a pronounced slur "The little virgin is outside all alone! Poor baby, we'll keep you company."

While he was talking Rebecca stood up and was reaching slowly into her pocket. Her mother gave her keys to the museum in case of an extreme emergency and this was about as extreme as it could get. These guys were drunk, and she knew what would happen if they got her.

As soon as he moved towards her she sprinted up the stairs. "Get her!" Maurice screamed and he ran right after her. At the door she fumbled with the key ring_ house key, car key come on, come on…_ she thought desperately. At last she got the right one and jammed it in the lock. Just as they had caught up with her she flung open the door and ran inside praying it would shut, that it would lock again. And it did. She fell to her knees with a grateful sigh but was on her feet in an instant when she saw one of the boys was carrying a lead pipe.

Rebecca raced away into the many curving and branching halls, hearing the crash and tinkle of glass as the hoods smashed the door open. She had to find a place to hide until security came, or the police, or anyone. She stopped at a familiar door, her mother's office. She unlocked it with her key, went inside, and locked it again hearing the pound of feet in the corridors behind her.

Rebecca forced her ragged breath under control and took a swift look around the room. She hadn't been in here lately, but it looked like all the other times she had visited her mom while she was at work. Imitation Grecian urns lined a wall next to a desk overflowing with paperwork. The only thing that was different was what looked like a table underneath a sheet in the middle of the room. She had never seen that here before. She had no idea what she was doing, but she was forced forward and ripped the sheet off of the object. This wasn't the best of times to enjoy the exhibits of the museum, but what she saw took her breath away.

The table had a beautiful mural on it. She couldn't tell what it was, but it was absolutely not meant to be in this tucked away corner of the museum. Three golden triangles formed a bigger triangle and through the middle a sword was thrust through, pointing down. The bottom half of the picture was swirling purple and black clouds with strange monsters on the sides and a pair of fierce red eyes staring sinisterly up at her. The top half was much nicer, a castle sat on the horizon and a lone horse was galloping along a wide grassy plain. She squinted at it, was it her imagination or was there a person in green on that horse…

There was a loud bang behind her and whirled around. Maurice had found her and kicked in the door! "Finally got you bitch" He snarled. "Now we have some unfinished business"

Rebecca, still wearing the necklace, felt like it injected molten lava into her, banishing her shock. She backed up to the row of jars. "Yeah we do have business to finish" she said calmly "I have to kick your ass" she grabbed one of the big jars behind her and threw it. It connected to his head, making a nice crunching sound. He staggered but remained upright.

He roared and Rebecca tried to get another jar to smack him again, but Maurice flung himself at her. She tried to run past him, but he blocked the exit. He grabbed her by the throat.

"Grandpa's not here to save you now" he whispered and tightened his grip. Rebecca panicked and tried to pull his hands away. He was going to strangle her to death! She had never been so scared… her vision started fading and her arms were getting heavy. She dropped one hand and it brushed against the pedestal.

The world exploded into white light.

--

A minute later a whole squad of police pulled up in front of the museum. They ran through the broken door and flooded the main room with light. They split up and found five boys vandalizing the place. The police also found an office where one of the ancient historians worked. There were signs of a struggle; a forced door, broken vase and some drops of blood…

But no one was there.


	2. Fight with a Tree

Ch2, Fight with a tree

Rebecca was lying down on grass. That much she knew. _And I'm going to stay like this for a while_ she thought as the ground lurched and spun underneath her. After a time, when the land didn't feel like a carnival ride, she opened her eyes. _It must be night_ she thought sleepily _with all those stars shining and moving…_

Moving? Moving!

She sat bolt upright and gasped. She was in a clearing in some kind of woods. Some of the ugliest trees she had ever seen were scattered around her, squat stumpy things with no branches or leaves. As she looked around her she saw small globes of light swirling around in the air. Nothing stirred. The effect would have been peaceful if she knew what the in the world was going on.

She staggered upright "Hello?" she called "is anyone there?" nothing happened. She stepped forward and plunged knee deep into a little pool. "Ah shit" she swore quietly. Then she saw the platforms along a small spring. She had nothing better to do.

Rebecca went over and balanced on a platform then ran and jumped. She did that three times and got to the other edge of the water. _O.K. now what-_

A clanking noise came from behind her and she tensed up ready to fight. She whirled around- it was a gem. It was balanced on its point perfectly and it was spinning. She looked at it stupidly. How did it do that? Suddenly the thing started flashing. Rebecca yelled and threw up her arms thinking it was going to explode or something. Nothing happened. She lowered her arms cautiously and saw that the gem had disappeared.

"Riiiight" she said backing away from the spring. What is this place? Suddenly she heard a laugh from behind her. She looked around and just caught a glimpse of a head disappearing behind one of the ugly trees. "Wait!" she shouted and ran up to the tree. Then she gaped stupidly at that too because it had a gigantic hole in it and an awning over it. A house? "Hey, wait a sec, I need some help" she pleaded with the house "Tell me where I am!"

No response. Rebecca swore again and kicked the tree-house then stalked off. There were tiny dirt paths everywhere so she picked one at random and went down it. Sometimes she caught other glimpses of faces just pulling out of sight but she walked resolutely on. Eventually she wandered into a dead end in another clearing. She was about to turn back but froze when a voice boomed out "WHO WANDERS THE SACRED WOODS OF THE KOKIRI?"

But there wasn't anyone in the clearing! Just a tree some kid had graffitied. They had scratched a pretty life-like face on it, you could almost imagine… then the tree opened its mouth and boomed again "STATE YOUR REASON FOR INTRUDING, STRANGER"

The next thing she remembered was feeling grass on her back again and a young voice saying "Oh Goddesses I didn't kill her did I? Check her pulse, is she alright?" small cool hands pressed on her neck.

"She has some horrible bruises but she's alri- For the love of Farore what is that she has!" someone pulled on her hand.

"Doan touch. S'mine" Rebecca grunted and sat up. As she looked around her she found herself face to face with a crowd of green haired children. They scampered away in fear and the voice she heard asking if she was o.k. spoke again

"Oh thank Nayru your fine! I didn't mean to frighten you so badly young one I wanted to try out my impressive voice. Didn't mean to scare you." Rebecca was staring at the tree again.

"You're… really talking to me, right? I didn't bump my head in the museum and went into a coma or something?" she pinched herself and it hurt.

"Umm…" the tree looked as confused as a tree could "Why wouldn't I be talking to you? And what's a mu-see-am?"

"Oh god I'm not dreaming. I'm really talking to the freakin' tree! Never mind, just tell me where I am"

"You are in the mighty land of Hyrule." The tree announced "and I am the Deku tree, Protector of the Kokiris"

With that Rebecca shut up. Mom must have been using chemicals to clean off an artifact or something. she simply breathed in to much of them. All she had to do was wait for it to wear off. Talking to her hallucinations wouldn't help.

The tree still looked puzzled. "How did you get in here anyway? There were the normal guards at the entrance. Did you let anyone in?" he aimed the last question at a child sitting against the wall of the clearing. Actually all of the children were still there.

"No sir. I don't know either." He said "but you should have a look at her hand"

"Her hand?" the tree frowned. A frowning tree was a sight she would never forget. "Come here girl."

Rebecca frowned too "there's nothing on my hand, tree! Leave me alone. You're just in my imagination!"

The children snickered and the tree looked just a little alarmed. "Calm down! I can tell your upset and all but-"

"God, what I wouldn't do for an ax right now." Rebecca muttered

"Hey now, I heard that and I deeply resent it! Some one go get Saria, maybe she can help."

Rebecca hugged her knees and put her head on them. The phrase 'were not in Kansas anymore Toto' played over and over in her head like a broken record. Maybe she was going crazy…

Without thinking about it she reached up for the pendant and felt nothing but the chain. She spun the chain around with one hand thinking it might have slipped to the back, but it wasn't there. She took it off her neck and thought _if I keep looking at everything with my mouth open it's going to stick like that_.

The pendant was gone. Almost without thinking she said "Yo tree!"

"Are you referring to me?" the tree said stiffly.

"Yeah did you see a pendant lying around? It's a little golden triangle thingy. I think I lost it"

"Gold triangle!" Rebecca nearly died as the tree turned white. She didn't know whether from shock or from the hilarity that a tree could look so dumbfounded.

"What golden triangle?" a soft voice said. "Did you find the new bearer?"

Rebecca turned and knew that if she was a guy she would have gotten in instant nose bleed. The twenty something year old woman that was coming into the clearing had to be the most gorgeous woman alive. Her short green tunic did nothing to hide the fact that her rack and her legs were absolutely perfect. She flipped her waist length green hair behind her shoulder and looked at the tree "What did you say Deku?"

"That weird girl over there said she lost a gold triangle pendant. But do you really think…"The tree broke off and looked thoughtfully at her "She doesn't seem particularly brave or powerful"

At this Rebecca flushed "I would be perfectly fine if trees just stayed inanimate like they're supposed to" she turned to the woman "Would you please tell me where I am? For real this time."

The woman frowned at her "You're in Hyrule. Don't you know what that is? It's where you live!"

"No it isn't! America is!" Rebecca wailed

"She she's a deku nut case! She can't be either one" the tree said

"Does it really matter? I'll take her to the castle and Zelda can sort this all out" replied the woman

"We should just kick her out in the desert! Did I tell you she threatened me with an ax?"

"It doesn't look like she has an ax."

"Well just tie her up and-"

"HOLY FUCKING MOTHER OF GOD I AM GETTING OUT OF HERE!!" Rebecca screamed. She sprang up and ran like a man on fire past the startled strangers and back out of the clearing. She saw in the distance a tunnel and made a beeline for it. Not even stopping to look ahead of her she rushed over a wooden bridge. Then bright sunlight hit her face and she slowed. Then she was struck by the odd déjà vu this place gave her. "It's the mural!" she whispered in awe.

Green rolling hills stretched on as far as the eye could see. A fairy tale castle was on the horizon, but there was more than that. A tall brooding mountain loomed up on the castle's right, and there seemed to be a town of sorts off in the distance. A blissful blue sky and puffy white clouds completed the picture of peace that raised her spirits a little.

She started whistling 'daisy days' and wandered off in a vague direction. She had to rearrange her brain from hat just happened. Her last memory was- she stopped that thought right away, no need to think about it now. She needed to figure out where she was. Obviously this was nowhere on earth, a place where strange things happened. No, not just strange. She read enough to know that talking trees and little elf people meant _magic_. Real honest to god enchantments, spells and leprechauns. The necklace the man gave her also seemed important and that there was something on her hand…

"PEAHAT!"

She was just about to look her hand when a boy raced past her screaming. When he saw her he skidded to a halt and turned around "Hey you, girl, run! I got a peahat after me!"

Rebecca raised her eyebrows "Why did you pee in a hat and why are you running from it?"

The boy looked at her blankly "you don't know what a peahat is?" then he turned pale. "Well you're about to find out!" with that he took off again.

Rebecca just stood there gazing after the boy. Pehat? Deku? Man, they had the strangest dialect here but they seemed to talk mostly in English. That was what bothered her in movies or books, you go to another dimension or planet and everyone there speaks fluent English.

There was the sound of a lawn mower behind her. _Strange there isn't much technology here_ Rebecca thought and looked behind her. "Hades in a hand basket!!"

What looked like a giant pear with blades was hovering menacingly towards her. She took off in the direction of the castle and prayed that the thing didn't zap her with mind powers or something. She found a bridge over a river over to her right. _Well it works for vampires_ she thought and ran over the bridge. Just as she hoped the peahat thingy stopped as soon as she was over. "Yes, touchdown!" she did a little shuffle and stuck her tongue out at it.

Just to nearly bite it off in surprise! The top opened up on the thing and spat out five little pears of doom. She had come against an unexpected wall and there was nothing else for it. She looked at her nice school clothes, then at the river, then at the evil fruit and sighed. Rebecca jumped into the icy water.

--

Two guards were taking a break along the castle moat.

"Hey Thrun"

"Whut"

"You pay me back for that game of cards last night?"

"No"

"Hey I need some money to go try out the shooting game, the prize is a hundred rupees today!"

"To bad, I'm broke"

"Geez you spend too much money on that treasure chest scam. You do know its rigged right? You have to be the dumbest- holy Din what's that!" he stuck his spear quickly in the river and pulled out by the shirt the soggiest and strangest human he'd ever seen. The clothes weren't familiar and on her hand…

"Thrun go get the queen quick like! We got a situation on our hands!"


	3. New Friends

ch 3, New friends

"What the…" Maurice mumbled "I had her and…" now a hot dry sun was beating down on him. He sat up and swore explosively. "If this is her fault I'll kill her!"

A desert surrounded him. He stood up and shook off the blistering hot sand and looked at the formidable fortress off in the distance. He started walking towards it, trying to piece out what had happened.

When Maurice had gotten to the fortress he still was as puzzled as he was about a half hour ago and considerably more thirsty. "Hey" he shouted up to the ramparts "Anybody there? I need some water!"

An arrow whizzed past his ear. He jumped "Hey you bastard, that nearly hit me!" he whined. "Jesus I just need something to drink!"

Now there was no response. He looked around furtively and spied a rough part in the bricks. He went over and tested his weight on a part of the wall. It seemed safe enough so he started climbing. _I'll show you what happens when you mess with me!_

--

"Oh my head…" a somehow warm yet cool sensation was flowing into her body. Rebecca sighed as the pounding headache subsided. She opened her eyes and choked back a scream.

An ancient woman was sitting on the side of her bed. _Just as wrinkled and the old man_ she thought as she sat up and looked at the other… things in the room. A small fishy person was standing near the door and seemed agitated. What she thought was a big boulder turned around and asked "she's awake?" Rebecca winced; the thing sounded like it was rubbing two rocks together when it spoke.

"I told you not to worry Junior." A teen came out of the shadows. He was dressed all in black with black eye shadow. He had enough hair gel slicked back his hair to make Elvis jealous and his skin was extremely pale. _That's a Goth if ever I saw one!_ She thought amusedly. At least they still had a fashion sense in this stupid world.

"I guess you're right Sorion" The boulder mumbled

"She doesn't look that special." Rebecca jumped as a voice right behind her spoke. She half turned to see a hideously painted face looming over her. Thick white painted lips and purple eye shadow clashed horribly with deeply tanned skin and red hair. "She's pretty jumpy to be honest."

"Dagoru! Be respectful!" the blue fish thing said. "She's just a little confused at the moment"

"Whatever you say must be right, Ahna." the girl said sarcastically. She walked around to the side of the bed. She was a teen wearing baggy pants and a sleeveless shirt. The only thing out of place was the two wicked looking scimitars at her hips.

"That's quite enough of that now." The old woman said quietly. "Maybe we can be nicer to our guest and ask her some questions."

Questions? Rebecca didn't like the sound of that. If this was a castle did they have dungeons? Maybe they were after that necklace…

"First of all" the old woman smiled at her "Are you hungry? I had my cooks make some stew, would you like that?"

"Um… sure." Rebecca said nervously. Now everyone was scrutinizing her, occasionally glancing to her hand. But most of them except for the old woman though had frowns on their faces.

_What the hell do I have on my hand that's soooo interesting!_ She lifted her hand and looked at it and gave a strangled yell.

Three gold triangles. She tried to scrape them off with a fingernail but they were embedded on her skin. She clasped her hand to her chest and glared up "Alright" she said angrily "which one of you freaks tattooed my hand while I was asleep?"

The Goth boy and the sword girl snickered a little but the others looked utterly shocked. "Girl, don't you know what this means!" the boulder man said. "You're the new bearer!"

"Bearer of the ring?" Rebecca asked stupidly "Bearer of what?"

"The tri-force of courage" the old woman said proudly, as if she had just given her a great gift.

"What's a tri-force?"

The room was deathly silent.

As the silence went on Rebecca cleared her throat "Ahem, well, um… I was wondering if any of you could tell me where I can find an old man with a beard and a green tunic. I have to tell him I lost that gold triangle pendant he gave me."

"WHAT!" everyone shouted. What was silence now erupted into chaos. Everyone was either shouting at her or excitedly to others. Rebecca shrank back in the bed, her head starting to pound again. _Make it stop, oh god make it stop. Just send me home._

She felt a tug on her sleeve and she looked down. Some one familiar stared back at her. "You're the guy who warned me about the pee-sock thing!" she whispered. The boy grimaced, stood up and thrust something over her neck. Rebecca was just about to put up a fuss when he grabbed her hand and dragged her off the bed. Keeping low, he then crouched ran out the door.

Rebecca just sat there for a while and wondered why the people didn't stop shouting and ask where she was. She looked back at the bed and saw an exact replica of herself. _Oh_ it dawned on her_ now I can leave! Of course that guy didn't just attack me for the fun of it_. She crawled to the door and nearly got stepped on by the fish girl. When she got out she closed the door quietly and sighed.

"Took you long enough" said a voice right next to her

Rebecca yelped and flailed her fist in the direction of the voice. "OW!" it said again and the boy materialized out of nowhere, rubbing his shoulder reproachfully. "Save someone and get a punch for it. But come on, they'dv heard the scream" he grabbed her by the hand and dragged her down a stone hallway to a blank space of wall.

He stopped and made a symbol with his hand "open in the name of Nayru" he whispered and Rebecca shivered. Something in the way he said it made it sound like he was saying more than just words. That must have been true because the blank section of the wall turned into an ornate set of doors. He quickly flung them open and dragged her inside.

If Rebecca hadn't been so flustered she would have been very impressed. Dark green walls were covered in what looked like schematics. Along one wall there was a huge case of books and along the other a table filled with vials, flasks, and small cauldrons over multicolored flames. But all she was content to do was sit down on a nearby arm chair next to a tall candelabrum, just thinking of the homework she was supposed to be doing right now…

The boy however had other ideas. "WOW did you see how my charm worked! An exact image AND invisibility! I was just working on how to get it to blink and breathe at the same time; did you get a good look at it?" He gazed expectantly at her.

"Um, sorry no." she said. Now that she had a good look at him Rebecca saw he was maybe only a year older than her but about four inches shorter. His sandy blond hair looked like he had just rolled out of bed and he had a slightly squashed nose. He was also squinting at her. _What is there a tattoo on my face too?_

"Oh" he seemed to deflate a little. "Well did they notice you as you came out?"

"Nope"

"Great! That means the invisibility worked perfectly too! But it seems to have worn out… can I see that amulet?" she handed the necklace back mutely while he chattered to himself. "Hmm, I grabbed the ruby, silver combination. Strange I would have thought the lapis, mother of pearl set would have worked better…"

He went over to the long table, kneeled down, and pulled out one of the many drawers along its side and Rebecca felt curious enough to get up and peer over his shoulder. _Eventually I'll get over everything being so weird here. Like guys playing pretty pretty princess._ She thought to herself.The entire drawer was piled high with precious gems, gold and silver wires, and jewel backing in all sorts of different symbols. He pulled out a nearly finished bracelet with deep green stones and looked at it frowning.

"Hey you" he said and turned around. "What's this symbol say? I can't see it in the dim light in here."

"I can't read your language." She said truthfully. They all looked like little boxes with chunks missing to her.

He sighed and mumbled "Then how am I going to remember what this is for- what?" he gasped "you can't read? I thought everybody, I mean with the new schools all over." He squinted at her again "are you from the forest? They don't allow schools there. But you can't be a Kokiri!"

Rebecca snorted "Not only do I not pay attention in school, I go to school in a different plane of existence."

He seemed not to listen and sighed. He tried covering one eye to read it. "That's the problem with my moving room." He said grumpily to himself "no wind blasted windows"

"Hey, if you can't see anything then get a pair of glasses." Rebecca said. She was wondering if she could get to that drawer and maybe snag a nice birthday present for mom.

"Glass?" he said questioningly looking up, one hand still over his eye "what's glass have to do with my sight?"

"Dear god I've landed in the stone age!" she mumbled before she said louder "you know glasses! The lenses you put over your eyes to see better? You haven't invented them yet?"

His eyes suddenly popped open "you found the right way to spell window panes?" then he jumped in the air and whooped "Ha, ha! Linnet thought I was a hopeless case when I talked about windows for your eyes! But really, just plain glass? No quartz or anything?" He ran to the far end of the work table and came sprinting back with some squares of glass. "Come on! You got to tell me-" but in his enthusiasm he forgot the drawer was open and went head over heels into a nearby potted plant, which immediately grew into… something!

The plant grew to about head height and _snarled_. Then the pod at the end of the stalk suddenly opened and displayed a row of jagged teeth. "HOLY SHIT" Rebecca screamed as the thing lowered its head to bite the momentarily stunned boy. Without thinking she grabbed the closest thing on the table, which happened to be the bracelet, and chucked it at the plant.

It did the exact last thing she expected; it blew up. With a flash of green light and a sizzling sound the plant was instantly reduced to ashes. Rebecca just stood there and blinked. "I really do have to get used to strange stuff here…"

--

As soon as he set his foot on the ground, Maurice was surrounded. Several women in veils with spears came rushing over as soon as they saw him. _Whoa, that bitch blasted me all the way over to Iraq or something._ "Hey" he growled "watch where your pointing those things you might hurt yourselves."

All the women's eyes flashed with anger. "Are you questioning the skills of the Geradu tribe?" she asked threateningly and took a step forward.

_Tribe… I've been captured by terrorists! Well they can't be so tough what with having women guards._ "Right, listen up chicks; I want you to take me to your boss. I'll have to ask him to keep a better rule over you women. It's shameful how free-"he was instantly cut off as the closest guard rammed the butt of her staff into his stomach

"Swine!" she spat. "You three take him to the dungeon and don't be careful."


	4. Who and What?

ch 4, Who and What?

Even after the guy was nearly eaten by a mutant brussle-sprout as soon as he picked himself up he was still raring to go on making glasses. When Rebecca asked about the exploding bracelet he slapped his forehead "Oh, the gag bracelet I was going to give to Junior. But wait, how did you know it exploded?" When she explained he just frowned. "I was doing an experiment on that plant you know! Its bark was worse than its fangs" He said in an injured voice. She just had to shake her head; this guy was a real coo-coo.

Also he would not believe it required no magic and he kept wanting to put emeralds in the rough frame he made "just to make the spell better!" he kept saying. Rebecca could put up with this project but was getting uncomfortable about his over enthusiasm. She didn't like the fact that this room had no doors or windows in case he got too weird. She had decided from now on to keep all talk of technology to herself.

Eventually he got it and saw awe struck when he put the frame on his face. "Those con-cavem lenses work really well!"

"Concave" she said through gritted teeth "But you should try making different pairs to see which ones-"

"By Din's fire!" he said slapping his forehead "I'm so sorry! I never told you my name!"

Rebecca blinked. That was right, he hadn't said his name._ What a_ _ditz_ she thought exasperated but said "well I'm Rebecca"

The boy got up and bowed "I am Zedar Rudolph Majora Hatius Blakely Hyrule, at you service!" The glasses fell off his nose and bounced under the desk. "Bother" he mumbled and crouched down to get it.

"Well Zedar Rudolph… etcetera," _what a stupid name!_ She thought "Should we go back to that old lady? I want her to know I'm O.K. and the doors seemed to have vanished"

"Oh, she knows where you are by now probably, but she can't… get in my… room." He had put his glasses back on and now instead of squinting he was blushing bright red. "By Nayrue's joy! I'm sorry I didn't notice!" He quickly turned around still blushing

"What's wrong Zedar?" Rebecca was totally perplexed at this behavior

"Well," he said not looking back "you're indecent"

Rebecca looked down at herself and suppressed a laugh. Since her clothes had been soaked by the river, someone had dressed her in a floor length cotton night gown with sleeves that covered her wrists. "Well if it bothers you so much do you have any clothes I could borrow?"

Zedar seemed very startled "What? Err… _my_ clothes? Umm alright I'll get something…" and he wandered off to a door in the far wall. While he was busy she took a chance to look at some of the schematics on the walls. She couldn't read anything but the pictures certainly were interesting. Here was one for a metal golem shaped like a horse, and another that looked like a flying machine with flapping wings. One was a drawing of a pink globe…

"Got something" Zedar announced and threw a bundle at her while still not looking "Just go in the bathroom over there"

"Thanks" she said and went in the door. The 'bathroom' was simply a large tub, a fire place for heating water, and a chute with a seat on it. She shuddered, thinking about where the chute led and got dressed. Rebecca came out a few minutes later in a black tunic, white tights, and black leather boots that were almost as comfortable as sneakers. She noticed that he was wearing all black as well. "O.K." she said jokingly pointing to the similar tunics "whose funeral are we going to?"

Zedar's usually smiling face swiftly turned blank. "I'm in mourning for my grand father." He said flatly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know. What was his name?"

"He was the hero of courage before you, Link."

--

"Hey! Heeeeeeeey I'm hungry! Is this the way you treat all your prisoners?" Maurice had been kept for a day (it felt much longer than that) in a stone room with no doors or exits (not to mention bathrooms) of any kind except one on the roof and a window too high up to reach. He was also sporting several shiners from the guards on the way to his plush accommodations.

"Shut it" said a bored voice from above. "You squeal too much"

"Dude, just throw some water down here! I'm dieing!"

"You're too noisy to be dieing, idiot."

"Come down here and say that you-"

"But that's the point of a prison, the prisoners are down there and the smart people stay up here"

"Why I oughtta-"

"That is quite enough." A curt female voice from above broke up the argument. "You, leave us."

"Ma'am, with all due respect you shouldn't waste your time on-"

"I will decide what to do with my time. Now go."

Then there was silence. Maurice frowned and yelled "and who are you?"

A figure appeared in the window of the cell. The sun was behind her so he couldn't see her face "Are you the boy who doesn't know who the Geradu tribe is?" she asked in a sneering voice.

"Well aren't you part of Al Quida? And anyway I want to talk to the boss here."

"You are talking to her"

He burst out laughing "Since when do terrorists let little girls run the show?" he snickered but instantly shut up as a dagger landed, quivering in the stone at his feet.

"Mock me again" she said softly as she pulled out another dagger "and you won't be a man anymore. Now I have some questions for you. Where do you hail from?"

"America" said Maurice shortly keeping his eye on the second dagger

The woman's eyes flashed. "Excellent, now do you know a girl that comes from the same place?"

"You mean Rebecca is here? Where? I'll rip her a new one when I get my hands on her!"

"That answered my third question, but the last one is multiple choice" she said "you could stay down there and rot"

"Or?" asked Maurice warily

"Be my personal guest and teach me all you know about this Rebecca. I have many other questions that I would rather not have to shout down at you."

He shrugged "like I have a choice. Done deal, get me out of here."

--

Zedar repeated the spell to the wall and the doors magically appeared. "Just keep you hand in your pocket for now, right? I don't know who we'll meet." Wondering who he would be afraid to meet in the castle Rebecca followed him. As he took her down and around stairs and twisty corridors he began to go back to his friendly self and pointed things out. "That's guest rooms for VIS, very important sages… that's the armory over there if you look out that window. It hasn't seen much use lately though… oh, that's the kitchen below us. Mmm smells like fish tonight!"

Suddenly muffled chanting came to her ears. He passed the door it was coming from without comment but suddenly her feet lurched to the side and her hand opened the door._ Not again!_ She thought as she slipped in the door against her will. Zedar didn't notice her sudden departure and kept walking.

_Why oh why does it keep DOING that?_ Her body had settled in an out of the way corner, hiding behind a big garbage can. No one had seen her coming in thankfully. The chanting was coming from a dozen children sitting at desks and looking at a big board. It couldn't be called a black board because it was made out of dark wood and the teacher was writing on it with a small gold rod. She stopped fidgeting as the teacher turned around; it was the fish girl from earlier.

"Good class," she said in a kind of weird melancholy sigh that she heard from other unenthusiastic teachers "now has anyone decided the parts they want for our play?" all the children instantly raised their hands, "Yes" she said and pointed at one of them.

"Mistress Ahna, I wanna be Farore!" the girl giggled.

_Farore? Where have I heard that before?_ Rebecca thought as the next two girls asked to be Nayru and Din _what do those words mean? If I asked I would probably get stared at like I was insane if these kids know it._

"Well you volunteered" said the fish teacher "but did any of you study your parts?"

The three girls giggled and one said "we could practice now if you wanted!"

"That would be good. To the front of the room please. Can you do the dance as well and the lines?" _Dear god, my body made me come to a school pageant._ She thought with an inward sigh. Right now she was more worried about her independent body than what the kids were learning. What was it? What is it going to do to her? What if it decided to take a leap off a bridge?

-we are goddess three, goddess three" Rebecca jerked from her musings. _They were talking about their religion the entire time? I guess I better stop swearing about God so much._ Rebecca listened as the three students recreated the making of the world. Din made the planet, Nayru made the planet inhabitable, and Faore made the people or something like that. When the students stepped away from the desk, there was a rock painted green with a stick person on it.

"Very good!" the fish teacher said with a little smile "but do you have the props for the next scene?"

"Right here" they yelled and brought out three yellow triangles. Rebecca managed not to cry out as they moved them so one was settled on top of the other two. "Courage, knowledge, power; the tri-force was made to protect and balance the land" they sang "to always watch over Hyrule and to choose its champion when needed in times of darkness."

Rebecca just sat there and looked at her hand as the class applauded politely and went out the door for recess. One line seemed to echo through the now empty room _and to choose its champion in times of darkness..._


	5. Threats old an new

Ch 5, Threats old and new

Rebecca got to her feet after she mulled over what she had heard. So now she was bearing a god's- excuse me, a goddesses' power. After ignoring religion for so long she felt kind of lost as to what to do now. Did she have to sacrifice a bull or something?

She wandered out in the hall and was forced once again to take off in a random direction. Anywhere was o.k. to her at the moment. Now all she had to do is find out what was expected of her, being like a champion of light or something. Nooooo problem. A sudden wave of homesickness threatened to engulf her but she pushed it back fiercely. What did she have at home that was worth having? No friends… no father… mother always working… constant loneliness…

"Hey, there you are!" she jolted as a rough voice called behind her "You really threw us for a loop" Rebecca turned around and there was the guy that looked like a roughly hewn boulder. He had brown mottled skin and a small patch of scraggly white hair on his head. She was convinced that if he sat down he would instantly blend into a piece of landscape. He stumped forward, "Sorry if we all kind of startled you there, but it was Zedar that stole you away, right?"

"Umm, yeah, what are you?" she suddenly blurted out and fought not to look annoyed as the boulder man looked thunderstruck.

"Wow! Man that Anmerca place must be some kind of arctic wasteland for no gorons! Even then we could survive for years. Anyway the queen wants to talk to you so we better hurry to the throne room. I'm Link junior, By the way but everyone just calls me Junior. What's your name?"

"Rebecca." She said. "But first can we visit that old lady? I want to apologize for disappearing on her."

Junior yelped. "That lady _is_ the queen of Hyrule, and she doesn't appreciate being called old! Now come on." He said huffily and walked down a smaller passageway.

Rebecca followed and decided to chance her luck "Hey Junior, you know I'm really out of touch here. I only learned what a tri-force was like five minutes ago. Anything else I should know?"

He screeched to a stop and turned around looking flabbergasted "What, you were serious! You honestly never heard of Hyrule or the Tri-force or anything? Anmerca really must be a poorly educated icy wasteland then. Or that you lived under a rock for the last thousand years" he laughed at his own joke but something seemed to snap in Rebecca.

"Fine then, you bastard" she snarled "No one wants to tell the 'barer' anything so just get yourself a new one that isn't retarded!" with that she raced down another even smaller passageway.

"Wait, I'm sorry! Don't take it personal!" Junior tried to follow but his wide body made it impossible. "Come back, you'll get lost!"

She wasn't listening. Her list of things to do had suddenly changed. Get the hell out of here or die trying. She just kept on running. Eventually she might try harder to find the main gate out but for now she was fine. Right now she was pissed, royally pissed. They were treating her like shit here, and she was supposed to be the important one!

Rebecca slowed and tried to calm herself down. Running around in a blind rage was going to get her in serious trouble. She wiped her forehead and leaned against a wall to catch her breath. Thinking of her life always put her in a bad mood; that was probably why she flew off the handle at junior.

Then she was struck by where she was. This had to be the throne room

Large pillars and suits of armor lined the walls. A huge chair inlaid with gold and jewels was sitting at the end of the snow white carpet. She walked up to the throne to get a close up of the beautiful designs on the throne's back when she noticed something was huddled in it. It looked like a pile of clothes. When she got up to the chair she gingerly poked it to see if there was anything under the cloth. It fell with a thud to the floor.

Rebecca stared in shock at what it was. For a second she was mute with horror then she started screaming for help. Several nondescript guards came running "What the problem miss" one said sharply. Then he looked down and couldn't help but scream himself.

It was the old lady, the Queen of Hyrule. And only Rebecca realized that the round hole in her head was caused by a gun.

--

Zedar looked sourly across the field. He could already see the long line of a Geradu envoy that only meant one thing. Sister dear, Linnet, was stooping herself to visit. He snorted and adjusted his new glasses._ Well_ he thought _at least she didn't get to Rebecca yet. When I find her I'll make sure she never will._

The envoy arrived with Linnet at the head with on a white horse. She looked down her nose at her brother "Zedar, how are you!" she said with a falseness that only he could detect "I have urgent news to discuss with you, so we shall skip the niceties and proceed to a private chamber." She frowned "What is that ridiculous thing you're wearing?"

"Nothing that should concern you, elder sister" he said stiffly. She was already taking control of the situation! He had to be firm. "But I think we must visit grandmother first, don't you think?"

A strange light flickered in her eyes then died before Zedar could see what it meant. She dismounted and waved nonchalantly to the envoy and the Geradus all bowed and left. All but one came out of the receding crowd and stood by her. It was a boy in fine Geradu garb with pimples and an ugly leer. "Is this your new boot boy, Linnet?" Zedar asked keeping his alarm hidden. A boy? With the Geradus? Did that mean…

The boy opened his mouth angrily but Linnet silenced him with a look. "He is what we must discuss, brother. Will we talk out outside for the world to hear or will we go in?"

Zedar turned on his heel and walked inside, betraying nothing. He had to act like this ever since Linnet had decided to live with the Geradus. He no longer trusted her to any degree. She seemed to think the same but Linnet had a harder time of keeping her thoughts behind a blank face. What was that look in her eye when he mentioned grandma Zelda?

Suddenly there was screaming he looked up startled "It's coming from the throne room!" he started running as fast as he could; all thoughts of his conniving sister drove from his mind. _Grandma! Please be alright, please be alright, please be alright…_ he stopped when he saw Rebecca at the foot of the stairs leading to the room. Her face was deathly pale and as he looked her over worriedly he saw blood on her hands. He felt undeniably horrified but he also felt a tiny pang of wanting to comfort her. He grabbed her by the shoulders "What happened! What did you do?" He demanded roughly.

"I…I" She looked pale and shocked. "He must have come and done it. Only he would know how to make a gun so quickly." She put her head in her hands, ignoring the blood "I didn't do it no matter what you'll hear when he comes. He's so good at lying…"

"Who? Who are you talking about? What happened?" he looked wildly about. Then he heard Linnet's stately footsteps coming closer "Tell me quick!"

"Maurice" she whispered "He's coming to kill me"


	6. Escape and Reveal

ch 6, Escape and Reveal

Rebecca had used up all her fear, sadness, and tears. She had also used up all the allotted paper she had for going to the bathroom but she didn't care. All she thought now was about the horrible revenge she was going to exact on everyone in this god damn castle.

She was in one of the dungeons she had fleetingly thought about when the queen had talked about questioning. At least it was clean enough but it was very uncomfortable. She only had a small threadbare cot and a chamber pot in there with her and she refused to touch either of them. All she knew about where she was in the castle was that the dungeon was several floors up. Rebecca leaned on tiptoe to see out the tiny high up window to try and see what time it was. It felt like a day went by at least.

She thought back to that scene on the steps to the throne room. A Maurice had come in with an important looking woman and behind her- Then she declared that Rebecca was the murderer and that she had to be locked up. She had tried to explain she didn't do it but Zedar had cut her off and agreed to lock her up. _When I get out of here I'm going to make him suffer particularly badly_ she thought venomously but there was no way out. Now her objectives had changed again: try to die in the least painful way possible.

She slumped against the floor wanting to cry again but the tears refused to come. If god does exist in her dimension, then why was he punishing her? Or was it the three goddesses in this dimension that were punishing her? Being locked up in a cell somehow made her really philosophical…

"Rebecca?" a low voice whispered. She jumped and ran to the bars to see who it was.

"You!" she hissed. Zedar had come down here to torment her! "If I could right now, I would rip you heart out and make you eat it! I'd give you a thousand paper cuts and dip you in a salt bath! I'd-"

"I know you would do all those things, but I have to ask you some things." He had bags under his eyes and his glasses were missing. He squinted at her "Will you let me talk?"

Rebecca mouthed angrily but all her well thought out curses died. He looked bone tired and miserable, like he had been the one locked down here. "What do you want?" She asked quietly.

"To ask some questions. That boy, Maurice, he turned up and my sister is working with him. They say that you had killed Grandma to get another tri-force part." He looked down at his feet. "I put you down here so I could think of a way you could be innocent."

_c-could be innocent?_ "You don't believe them. Right?" she asked warily "That was completely ludicrous! I don't even know what to do with the tri-force piece I have!"

Zedar sighed then said "he also says that there is a tri-force where he comes from, that you're just feigning ignorance to gain my trust. Then Junior said that you ran from him in the direction of the throne room in a rage." He looked at her pained. "I saw them arrive with my own eyes, Rebecca. How could the boy have done it?"

"No…" now the tears did come again, but this time in anger and frustration "I told you he'll lie! I don't know how he did it, but he did! Don't believe a word he says or he'll put a bullet through you're head too!" she felt so helpless. How could she prove she didn't do it?

"I- I don't know what to believe anymore! My own sister says you're a reincarnation of Ganondorf. That it was you that killed both of my grandparents. Three of the other sages are agreeing with her. But…" he looked up at her torn. Rebecca took a page out of his book and stared back blankly.

Then his face hardened with determination. He flung his hand at her and Rebecca screamed as a blast ripped the wall behind her apart. "Get out of here! Go home!" he choked and raced back up the stairs.

Rebecca turned around and looked out of the hole in the wall. What he clearly forgot was that the dungeon was on the sixth floor. This was really a figment of her imagination. She couldn't put up with it anymore. She couldn't go on with only half truths and murders and Maurice right here in this castle. Her objective right now was to die painlessly, right? She could just jump out of the window right now and end it all.

Suddenly the image of the old man came back to her. He had saved her from being murdered or worse that night. And he had children, and grand children and a wife. Now that nice old lady that had offered her stew was gone too. She had only seen them both just once, but she knew they were good people. The injustice of it swept over her, that the Queen died, but Maurice was going to get away with it scotch free. She couldn't let that happen.

Only she knew what was going on in Hyrule, and she wasn't going to let more people die.

Except maybe a certain someone and his new girlfriend.

--

When Zedar had alerted the guards five minutes later that the prisoner had escaped he was glad to see she had actually left. Now he could fully concentrate on wrestling the crown away from Linnet. Since she was older she claimed inheritance of all of Hyrule. He was arguing since he was the only son of their parents that he rightly inherited everything. That was an extremely old fashioned way of thinking but it was the only plan he had so far.

He left the guards and walked down the stairs to where Linnet was waiting for him again. This time she wanted her pet boy Maurice to tell them all how Rebecca bewitched his glasses to see she was completely innocent. "This whole thing _is_ completely ludicrous" he muttered "she saved my life from my own stupid experiment… and I didn't trust her…"

When he reached the landing a hand gripped his shoulder and he was pulled inside a room. He yelped and turned around. "S-Saria!" he stammered. Once she started growing up she had never left the forest again, but here she was, standing right here. He knew this was wildly inappropriate but for a split second he wondered if she wanted to make out with him. He blushed furiously. He always thought that when he was around Saria, even though right now she looked extremely serious.

"Zedar, I must speak to you, as the only one who now survives of the original sages." She looked sternly at him. "You've made a serious mistake by letting Rebecca out of the castle. Now you have to send a hunt after her."

"What! I would never do that!" why did Saria want to hunt Rebecca? Did Junior, Sorion and Dagoru convince her Rebecca was guilty?

Saria sighed. "If you want the reincarnation of Ganondorf to still trust you, then you must act like you know nothing about the escape and go after her."

"But I- _what?_ The reincarnation of Ganondorf? He's here? Who is he?"

"Not only him, but his new sorceress as well."

Zedar felt his blood run cold "That boy?"

Saria nodded. "Ganondorf must have used the last of his power to hide the tri-force of power away. Wasn't it a little suspicious that Rebecca was found in Kokiri woods and Maurice in the Geradu desert? Now Linnet has him and will stop at nothing to own the entire tri-force." She shook her head sadly "I'm afraid that she already has the tri-force of wisdom from queen Zelda and you saw how she did that"

Zedar stood there shocked. Now he had to send a hunt party after Rebecca because he knew what would happen if Linnet got there first.


	7. Scary People

ch 7, Scary people

Rebecca had found a vine to climb down after she had made her resolve. _Really_ she thought amused_ could they put an escape rout in a more convenient place_? When she got to the ground she stretched and took a deep breath of air. It felt good to be out of that dank cell.

She looked around and saw a tree by the side of the road. She ran and ducked under it for cover. She frowned. She thought she had heard someone coming but it sounded more like… _music?_ Yes it was undeniably music that was getting louder and the sound of wings…

"It looks like you need some good advice, my friend!" called a voice above her accompanied with a thud. The music was loud and rather grating she was surprise she wasn't caught already. She looked up to see an owl gazing at her solemnly.

"I could definitely use help" she whispered trying not to be too uncomfortable around a talking owl "But do you mind being a little quieter? Maybe turn off the sound track?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." it said huffily and the music grew in volume.

"Alright! It's fine as long as it doesn't bring guards." she said hastily. "Now, you were going to help me?"

"Yes, but first I must say my speech to you." he ignored the stunned look on her face and pulled out a piece of parchment that unraveled all the way down to the dusty path. Then he unfolded it. "I am Kabora Gabora, the wise sage who had so many honors piled upon him for writing 'how to' books and flower arrangements that- hey, where are you going?" Rebecca cursed and stopped trying to sneak away.

"Umm, well your honorable sage" she said with a low bow. "I… Have no presents to give to such an illustrious one as yourself. I must go to town and buy a gift fit for a king."

"Ah, well! That is a completely different matter. I thought you were just trying to skip out on this very interesting and detailed speech I had prepared. I have no idea why so many people do that. Go on." He sat and twiddled his… wingtips while Rebecca made a mad dash for the town.

But while in town there was another problem. A pack of dogs were running loose in the street. Every time they laid eyes on her they all yapped and howled like no tomorrow and one especially annoying dog kept following her. She tried to duck into what looked like an abandoned house to lose it but it just kept coming. "Damn it, shoo!" she whispered furiously.

"Who's there?" said a sleepy voice. A candle was lit and an extremely fat woman came waddling up to her. "Excuse me dear but this is a private residence- Oh it's Richard!" she swooped down and grabbed the dog from off the floor. The scene of a reunion was to sickeningly stupid to tell anyone. Then the woman turned on Rebecca "Oh I can't thank you enough for saving my little poopy-pie from those wild dogs!" she opened her arms wide to hug her.

"No problem, honestly!" she said and swiftly side stepped.

"But I must repay you somehow! Hmmm where did I put that heart piece…?"

What ever Rebecca wanted it was not a piece of an organ "Umm, you can tell me where to find a weapon ma'am? Preferably magical."

The woman looked at her in distaste "Oh, dear me! Why would you want to mess around with magic? Leave all that stuff to your brothers why don't you? I bet you've never even touched a sword in your life! I could arrange a nice marriage for you instead."

_Oh great, anti-woman rights_. But she wasn't going to let the lady know that she really had never had touched a sword in her life. "Do you mean to say there is a magical sword around here?" she said as politely as she could.

"Well, if you have your heart set on it then go to the temple of time, right around the corner. But do take heed of what I say! You'll not be a spring chicken forever."

She left the house with great relief. She couldn't believe the nerve of some women! Pre-arranging a marriage… she had absolutely no time for romances at the moment. She quickly squashed the image of Zedar that leapt to mind. _Him and me? Yeah freakin' right. Stuff like that only happens in bad fan fics._

Rebecca set off for the temple and found it quickly. She walked past several stones and did a double take. She was sure that the eyes on the stones were following her. She shivered and continued into the stone building.

The place was silent as a tomb. _O.K. maybe that was a bad analogy for right now._ She was seriously getting the creeps from this place. All there was in it was a pedestal with three cups and had the strange block writing on the front. For a lack of a better thing to do she searched it for switches.

"…You have courage"

Rebecca whipped around and came face to face with someone. She couldn't tell who because their face was covered with bandages but its voice sounded feminine. She had a full length body suit on with an eye crying a red tear on her chest. The hair that was sticking out was blond but it was her eyes that made her recoil… or the apparent lack of them.

"My body is gone… so my spirit must guide you…"she bowed "I am Sheik"

"I-I'm Rebecca." She shuddered "So you're a ghost?"

"In a sense." She said in a monotone. "I must give you the key… and warn you."

"I don't understand-" Rebecca started then gasped. The ghost or whatever it was pulled out three shimmering stones.

"Put them on… the stone" she whispered. Her voice was getting fainter. Rebecca reached out and grabbed them, careful not to touch her hand. She placed them, a ruby, emerald, and sapphire, in the niches on the pedestal "Now… Play…" the ghost pulled out a blue thing and it fell through her hand. "The spell… it's fading…"

She quickly grabbed it from the floor. It looked like some sort of recorder, if recorders were round. She hesitated then put it to her lips. Very far away she could hear three notes. She repeated them twice and nothing happened. She was about to play a third time when she felt something icy cold on her shoulder. Rebecca screamed as the ghost sagged on her for support.

"Please… I'm… weak…" it talked so low she could barely hear it. There was a slow rumbling noise and the wall in front of her parted. She stood in awe as it opened up to reveal a sword pinning a large pool of shadow to the ground.

The ghost sighed "Gannon will not awaken… his soul is in another… but you must fight his body… to claim the sword… of…time…" the icy feeling slowly faded as the ghost disappeared into the air "strike down evil…" was the last she ever heard of it.

Rebecca did a quick inventory. She was left holding a magic instrument with a king's ransom of jewels before her next to a demon that she had to kill with a magic sword. She wondered if she could put quarters into that ghost spell to keep it working for a while longer but she didn't think so. _What the hell am I supposed to do now?_

There was no use to put it off. Well actually she wanted to put it off until she had a year's worth of fencing classes but she couldn't do that either. They would start looking for her tonight. She wiped her sweaty hands on her tunic and walked up to the sleeping shadow.

Without walking on the shadow she reached over and gave the sword a tentative tug. It felt like the sword was pushed out of the floor and it sprang into her hand glowing. _It's the sword the old man had!_ She thought thunder struck. Yup it was the same blue and oddly glowing sword that she had seen on the night this whole fiasco started. She felt a strong urge to throw it into a river.

But the shadow that was pinned began to stir. It grew a pair of eyes, the same ones that were on the pedestal that transported her here. _What's with all the creepy eyes in this place!_ She thought franticly as the shadow took form. It was gigantic; A huge lumbering beast with glowing eyes and a scorpion tail! It reared up on its hind legs and bellowed.

She felt very foolish next to this monster, even holding a magic sword. It was like trying to cut down the tallest tree in the forest with a herring. _Gah, not a time for jokes!_ She ran and the huge thing stomped after her.

She rushed outside the temple. This was a lucky break! She could fit through the door but, the monster couldn't. She was about to breath a sigh of relief when a man walked out of the door. He seemed in a Christmas-y mood with green skin and red hair, but the black armor and the glowing ball of energy in his hand made him look a little more dangerous.

The man rose up into the air and laughed horribly. He chucked the ball of energy at her and Rebecca felt the familiar impulse. She flailed the sword at it and the ball bounced back at the man. He scowled and hit it back towards her. _So I don't have time for jokes, but I do have time for ping pong! _She hit it back again; then the man missed his timing and he screamed as the energy engulfed him. He sunk to the ground limp and Rebecca ran up and slashed at him.

The man roared and changed back into the gigantic monster. She swung at his legs but with its thick skin it didn't leave a scratch. She kept hacking in the vain hope that it would break through, but then the thing stooped and it swung at her with its fist the size of a washing machine. Rebecca barely had time to see it and lunge out of the way, but she got clipped on the shoulder and sent flying. Landing a few feet away she lay dazed as the monster raised its foot, laughing. _Well, my drug induced stupor ends here… wake up _she waited for the dream to end or for the monster to crush her, but she didn't expect to hear "What in the name of Din is going on!"

She looked up and saw a short, old, and fat man in a brown robe with a tiny bow in his hand. He was aiming the comically small thing at the monster and shouted "N-now, you just stay back, evil minion!"

Rebecca wanted to scream for him to get away, but all she managed was a faint cough. The man let loose and the arrow hit it in the face. It simply laughed again but abruptly stopped. Then it gave a feral yell and pawed franticly at its face. The arrow had turned golden and was planted firmly in its skull.

The man rushed over to her and pulled her up into a sitting position. "You pulled the sword out." He stated and she nodded slightly. Any kind of movement hurt right now but the man said "Well, get on with it! Slash at his tail!"

He dragged her to her feet and nudged her in the right direction. The monster was still screaming, but now it focused its red eyes on Rebecca. She choked back a scream as her eyes met his. She felt like she was about to die under its horrible gaze! Then the man shot another gold arrow at it and it fell to its knees. She stumbled around it till she saw the writhing scorpion tail and hacked at it like the man told her to. It severed cleanly and the monster howled and it slowly fell with a crash to the ground.

It dissolved into darkness and the shadows then melted into the night, leaving nothing. "So now I can make jokes?" Rebecca mumbled groggily and she fell as well.


	8. Q and A

ch 8, Q and A

"Excuse me? Excuse me Miss, I don't mean to interrupt, but you landed me in some serious dedongo dung."

Rebecca once again found herself waking up in a comfortable bed with no recollection of going to sleep. She slowly opened her eyes and saw hazily a worried face stooping over her. "Hoozat?"

"What?" the man said and jerked away. "Well, at least you're conscious. Now you can get out."

"Out… oh Jesus." She sat up and felt her ribs. They ached like she was run over by a truck. "Look Mr., can't I crash here for a while?"

"Most certainly not! If they find you here, then they'll kill me! Or worse, resend my VIS privileges." He walked across the small hut and opened the door. "Out you go Rebecca. Sorry I can't help."

Rebecca just sat there, suddenly suspicious. "O.K… let's get this straight for the record. Who are you, what happened, where am I, why do you know my name, who's 'they', and why the hell are you kicking me out?"

The man paused and looked like he was considering answering. "If I tell you, you won't let anyone know you saw me?" she nodded and he sighed and closed the door. "This might take a while. Well, I'm Kikaru, sage of light and guardian of the temple of time. What happened is that you very, very, VERY foolishly let Gannon free and then you killed it, with my help of course. I know your name because I got a report about you like all the sages and royal family. 'They' are Princess Linnet and Prince Zedar who both sent out search parties for you and I'm kicking you out because I don't want to be charged with 'aiding a felon'." He then opened the door again hopefully.

"Not on your life" Rebecca said flatly. Kikaru closed the door again and sat down opposite her on a chair. "New questions, where's the sword, what's a sage, why am I a felon and is the monster gone for good?

He put a hand to his forehead like he was suffering a fool. "They're questions I need answered!" she said angrily. She was going to wring him for all the information he was worth!

"Yes, yes, alright. The sword is back in the pedestal. A sage is someone, like the bearers, protects Hyrule and the tri-force. You're a felon because you murdered Queen Zelda. The monster is gone for good, at least the body is."

"I didn't kill that stupid old woman!" she jumped out of bed, pain forgotten. "And what do you mean 'at least the body?'"

"And Saria, Anha, and I all agree you didn't do it. You destroyed the body of Gannon, but the soul is currently in another body. Now will you please GO? They might decide to search my hut soon!"

"Then why are they still chasing me if some people believe me? Why don't they just leave me alone? Everything was fine until that damn bastard Maurice came!"

"Don't you get it?" Kikaru jumped up too "Are you as dumb as I think you are? That evil boy has the soul of Gannon in him!"

Rebecca stopped dead. "You… you mean he's that monster?"

The man sat down again. He seemed to age about twenty years. "Please, I told you everything. Now go."

"What, you know all this but you're still booting me out? You're supposed to be protecting Hyrule, not send its last hope out with a 'bon voyage'."

He laughed hollowly. "So you're our last hope? Farore, I wish I hadn't given up drinking."

She was full of wrath, but a small feeling of pity welled up at seeing this man so heart broken. She wanted to stamp out but she got control of herself. "I'm sorry, Mr. Kikaru, I see I'm not wanted here, so I'll leave." She reached the door of the hut and opened it.

"Wait a second." He said and she stopped. "Just… remember the picture on the dais. That's all"

Then Kikaru was alone. "And good luck" he whispered.

--

Wrapped in a cloak, Zedar rode around Lon-Lon ranch, vaguely hoping he had missed a gigantic sign on the wall saying 'Here she is'. Both Linnet and he had been searching all night until three in the morning when she finally gave up and went home. He, of course, had to send his search party home to avoid being suspicious.

Thankfully, anybody who didn't know the secret entrance couldn't get out of Hyrule. It was made in a basin of strange mountains and forests that prevented anybody from leaving. It had even taken his father and mother years to find the entrance and once they did…

_They abandoned us_ he thought bitterly. His horse whinnied and shifted and Zedar loosened the reins a little. It was no time to think of that now, he had to find Rebecca. He kicked his horse and they sped off back to the castle. Maybe she had returned to the only place she knew.

He mulled over what he and Saria had talked about. She had figured out a rough guess of the events leading up to now. Ganondorf had flung the tri-force of power and his soul out of his body just as the sages had sealed him away, sending his lifeless body to another realm. This prevented the tri-force from reforming and protecting the land as it should. Link eventually found the other world that the power triangle was sent to, and for his own inscrutable reasons, gave the triangle of courage to Rebecca. The whole punch line of this great cosmic joke was that the bearer of courage was scared silly by the bearer of power. Not only that, Linnet had joined up with Maurice, and she was already trying to take over Hyrule.

He shivered in the cold as the drawbridge lowered for him. He wanted no part of this fiasco. For all he cared, the tri-force could go leap off Death Mountain, ideally with his sister.

Zedar dismounted, giving his horse to the only of guard nearby and walked towards the temple of time. He couldn't go to the castle, not right now. He needed to clear his head badly. As he walked up the stone steps noticed something was wrong.

"Who's there?" he whirled around and drew his dagger. Someone in a black cloak was following him, trying to stay out of sight.

"Oh dear, There you are!" goddesses, the only person who could make this situation even more nightmarish than it already was. Linnet came after him and now he needed an explanation for what he was doing out here "I was so worried when you went out again and didn't tell anyone. Still looking for the blood thirsty murderer?"

_She is NOT _he silently screamed but put on a bland smile instead. "Sorry, I just needed some fresh air"

Linnet smiled back dazzlingly "you know, while you were gone I searched the castle from top to bottom. I know I should have asked you first…" she shrugged "but I of course checked your room as well"

"So?" _I'm smart enough to keep everything well hidden from conniving witches like you!_ "Did you find anything too incriminating?"

"Well, I never really would expect you to be smart, let alone more _knowledgeable_ than me. Could you really believe he's smarter than me Maurice?"

"What the, SHI-" he felt something hard strike the back of his head and all he saw was stars.

--

_Soooo… now what._ Once again Rebecca was hiding outside the castle with no idea what to do. At least she had a sword. That was one step ahead but what was the next? Did she just barge in and start slashing away or did she have to sneak in and wait for them. "I guess I don't make a very good hero…"

"I just think you need a little help. I'd be glad to give it" Rebecca jolted from her musings and spun around. The figure spoke again "Don't make a sound. Just follow me quickly"

It was the beautiful woman that she saw in the forest. She had a dark dress on and her hair was covered by a cloth but that still didn't stop her from being lovelier than she could ever be. _Now's not the time to be jealous!_ She berated herself. Her mind was churning. Could she trust this woman? "Who are you, what do you want?" she said cautiously.

"Please, no time. I've got to tell you everything because Nayru knows Linnet won't tell you." she beckoned and moved down the earth path to the castle. Rebecca followed slowly. she had a point. From the little she had seen of Linnet she knew she wasn't the type to tell you her master plan as you were slowly descending into a pit of snakes… or whatever equivalent they had here.

They kept walking till they came to a small path branching off to the side. It was obviously a dead end with nothing in it so she was about to keep going when the woman stopped. "No, this way" she caught Rebecca's arm and pointed to the base of the wall

She squinted at it "What? I don't see anyth- oh you've got to be kidding me." A small hole, maybe one she could crawl through if she held her breath, was down there. "I am not going in there under any circumstances."

"Well, I'm going in there and I've got the answers. See you around." without a backwards glance she stooped and wiggled into the hole.

"No way… just what? Why do we have to go in a hole?" She grumbled to herself as she crouched as well. "What's all this random stuff? Why am I forced to say 'what' every sentence so far tonight?" she eventually got on her belly and closed her eyes, trying not to imagine herself being trapped in the darkness and closeness of a dank smelly cave with a complete stranger. No sooner had she thought it she was out of the hole and gaping like an idiot once again.

A stone fountain shone with an ethereal glow as it shot out pure water. Shimmering dust fell from the cave ceiling and danced like snowflakes around what could only be described as fuzzy white balls with wings. "This is the fairy fountain" the woman explained, taking the cloth off of her hair. "I guess you haven't been to a one yet."

"No, I would have remembered this" Rebecca said drawing closer to the pool. "So these are fairies? I thought they would be a tad more impressive."

"What, you mean like me?" a deep voice spoke and giggled as Rebecca jumped. A giant woman materialized and she could be summarized in one word: Ugly. As the mystery woman was pretty she was just as UGLY! She was clad only in vines and Army boots with a pointed, hooked nose and horribly painted lips. She had waist long blood red dread locks that spread out from her head and made her look like a kind of monster Christmas ornament. The over all affect of her appearance and the insane cackle that accompanied her was enough to drive you to tears.

"Oh dear, Great fairy, I didn't mean to wake you up!" she looked no happier at the arrival of the stranger as Rebecca was.

"Nonsense, Saria dear, you must be here for an upgrade anyway! Hoo my, now where did I put my new invention…"

"No, no, no need to do that we just needed some _privacy_." The emphasis on privacy was lost on the fairy. She was rummaging around behind the fountain and with a little cry of triumph she pulled out what looked like a small crystal. "Oh," she said hastily "I believe that your invention would help out Rebecca more!"

"Oh really? Here it is then deary." The fairy showed it to Rebecca who had remained silent out of apprehension. What was this weirdo… sorry 'Great Fairy' trying to pass on her? It actually was a small crystal but the center had a golden light coming from it. She gave a dubious look to the woman who now had a name. Saria gave her a tiny nod.

"My sister's and I finally got together and shared notes." She said proudly. "No more running back and forth, one upgrade does it for everything now!"

"really..." Rebecca eyed the little crystal suspiciously. Now what did upgrade mean? The fairy held it out to her expectantly. Rebecca had already broke her 'don't take anything from extremely weird strangers' policy so she decided to grab it.

A force slammed through her body, like a million watt light had just been switched on. She felt the constant ache that stayed with her since the fight in the store room vanish and then felt a strange growing feeling in the back of her mind. A green light was there too, and even as the bright light eventually faded it remained.

She noticed she had fallen down sometime during this process. "…But I get up again… Never gonna keep me down" she muttered to herself and Saria helped her to stand up again.

"Hmm, interesting side affect" the fairy noted "I believe that would of killed a normal person, but of course you bearing the tri-force and all-"

"Kill me? KILL ME? You mean you weren't sure I would survive it!?" Rebecca drew her sword and pointed it at the fairy. She was so mad that she could…

Shoot lasers apparently! To her utter bewilderment the sword turned green and shot a beam at the fairy who disappeared with another ear grating cackle. _What am I, a spirit detective now?_

Saria seemed unperturbed. "Magic, well, that makes your life easier. Now can we get down to what I have to say?"

Rebecca sat with a thump. "I'm going to sit here while my head implodes from the sheer hilarity of it all. Do please go on."

She gave Rebecca a worried look then sat down as well. "We'll be safe here for a while. I'll tell you a story then you can ask any questions you like."

Her head hurt too much to protest story time but she soon forgot about implosions when Saria started her tale.

A young boy named Link was the only Kokiri to not have a fairy. Then, the guardian of the forest grew ill, and asked Link to kill the monsters that had invaded him and break the curse. The guardian died, but not before warning him about the evil man that had cursed him. Link left the forest, and gathered the sacred stones that would open the door of time and lead him to the ultimate weapon. Everywhere he went, stories of the evil man went before him. Aided by the princess of Hyrule, Link was able to open the door of time and reached the weapon of evil's bane, the sword of time. However, the sword had deemed him too young to wield it and sealed him away for seven years. The evil man however, had planed on this, and Ganondorf revealed himself and took the unguarded tri-force.

When Link awoke, he found the land ruled by darkness. Then he woke the sages one by one. Link received help from a man calling himself Sheik, but when Link had found all of the sages, he showed himself to be Princess Zelda who was disguised to hide from Ganondorf. She told him that while Gannondorf held the tri-force of power, they held the other two pieces. But the dark king had used Link once again, and kidnapped Zelda once she revealed herself to him. In a final battle, Link faced Gannondorf, who released his power and turned into Gannon. When he lost, Gannon was sealed in the shadow realm forever.

"The tri-force should have been put back together." Saria sighed and worked a kink out of her back "but from what we could tell was that Gannon had actually let his body be trapped in the shadow realm while his spirit and the tri-force of power escaped to goddess knows where before eventually becoming Maurice. Link and Zelda agreed that time should be turned back to before Gannon had done his evil work so the kingdom could start anew. They went back in time, along with the rest of Hyrule forgetting all the events that took place. They might have gone to being children again, but even that could not stop fate. They eventually were married and had a son. Everyone had forgotten about the missing tri-force except for me." She smiled sadly. "Time plays constant tricks on me. I'm held in limbo between the ever young Kokiri and the quickly aging Hyrulians because of my sage powers. I also remember every detail of this story, though no one else does. I think only Zedar truly believes me."

Rebecca remained silent. This was seriously a raw deal. Why didn't she get to fight dragons and save people in the depths of a volcano? Why didn't she get to fly on magic bean plant and be able to breath under water? Why didn't she get to fish, and bowl with bombs, and visit Epona on a wide grassy plane?

Saria must have seen it on her face and said "Heroes don't get the easy jobs, Rebecca. Link could have died many times over if not for our friends here." The white fuzzy balls had landed in a circle around them, seemingly to hear the story better. They fluttered up and continued to drift around the water.

"Well then…" she said getting to her feet and rubbing her sore backside. "That was a really,_ really_ long story. Now it's my turn" she paused trying to remember what she wanted to ask. There were only a few questions left unanswered, most important "What do I do now? To stop Maurice and Linnet I mean."

"Do you want to do this?" Saria said seriously. "Maurice may have Gannon's soul, But Linnet is just as powerful as the original was"

Rebecca looked at her hands. Could she really kill someone? Slaying a ferocious black mage seemed much easier on the gameboy… but now she had seen the face of her enemy. Could she really chop Linnet's head off if it meant-

KABOOM!

They screamed as chunks of shattered rock blew around them "We stayed too long!" Saria screamed "RUN, REBECCA, RUN!"

"You're not going ANYWHERE!" another voice shrieked and tendrils of solid blackness shot into the dawn brightened chamber. They wrapped around Rebecca and Saria before they could move and hauled them out of the now ten foot wide entrance way. Linnet stood there grinning triumphantly. "There, the last traitor sage and the tri-force of courage! They all belong to me!"

"Oh, FUCK NO!" there was a swooshing howling sound and the Great Fairy stuck her head out of the fountain. "I JUST HAD THAT CHAMBER TOTALLY REMADE YOU BITCH!"

Anger suited her features much better. Her hair lashed angrily around her and she grew taller and taller with her eyes becoming glowing pits of fire! She howled her fury all across the kingdom and the Rage Fairy lunged at Linnet and knocked her off her feet.

Linnet's captives fell to the dusty path as she turned to do battle with the murderous magical being. Saria was first on her feet and dragged Rebecca after her. "Just take this and leave! I'm going to help the Great Fairy."

"No! I have to fight her-"

"There's something wrong at the castle, I feel it! You have to go and find out what happened to Zedar!" Saria tucked something in her pocket and pushed Rebecca up the path. She then threw herself into the fray of flailing black and pink tendrils of magic, adding her own green color.

"Whoa, hey wait a sec…" she did not even want to think of what would happen if she went into that swirling multicolored cloud. But what now, what could she-

_Shut up_ an internal voice said surprising her _and stop asking other people what you need to do. Do what _you_ need to do._

_After all, isn't that what courage means?_

She slowly turned around to face the castle. The last traitor sage Linnet had said. Did that mean that not only Zedar was in danger but Junior too? What about Ahna and Kikaru? She had to use this time that Sari and the fairy had selflessly (Well not for the fairy so much) given her.

Without a backwards glance she rushed to the castle.


	9. Trash Talk

ch 9, trash talk

Zedar floated in a hazy dreamscape between sleep and consciousness. He felt a soothing warm liquid all around him, even entering and exiting his lungs while he breathed. It tasted kinda like strawberries with a hint of burning leaves. He slowly raised his arm and bumped it gently on a smooth glass dome. He did it again a little harder. A face loomed up against the glass, faintly pinkish through the clear liquid.

"You just need to go to sleep again" the face said and pushed a button on the glass. Another taste filled the bowl, this time of deku nuts.

"No…" he said quietly and slept

--

Two guards were walking along a garden path

"Whut was that?"

"Huh, what is it Thrun?"

"I thought I heard sommat"

"You 'hear sommat' all the time ever since that Zedar pup snuck past us on a dare."

"Naw, I really heard a rustlin' like, from above." He pointed up to a vine covered trellis above their heads.

"Who in blazes would try something stupid like that eh? Get your brain out of yer boots and use it sometimes"

"There be no need to get nasty…"

The guards wandered away and Rebecca gave a shaky sigh of relief. She slipped down off of the trellis and stole quietly into an empty courtyard. Saria had told her about this secret entrance into the castle during her story and now she had access straight to the throne room. She pushed gently on the window ledge and it went up without a sound; thanking any particular deity available right now that something was going her way.

She poked her head through slowly to make sure no one was there. When she was sure, she swung herself through and quickly scanned the room. She froze as she saw a pink stain on the floor in front of the throne itself. Apparently there weren't carpet cleaners powerful enough yet to remove all the blood. She suppressed a shudder and quickly went to the door.

She very gently eased the large front doors open. Nothing happened so she started to walk through. Only the fact that the door was between two ornamental pillars stopped her nose from being an inch shorter. A blade whistled in front of her face and was followed up by an explosive curse. Rebecca staggered backward and just barely prevented herself from falling as a well tanned girl wielding two gigantic swords stepped out of her hiding place.

The girl giggled and Rebecca realized she was one of the sages in the room when she first woke up, the one with the huge scimitars. She got them out now and swung them lazily around in her hands. "Well, look what I've found" she smirked "a little rat to play with. I'm Dagoru, my blades are the last thing you're ever going to see, so enjoy the view while you can." She flipped them both up in the air and caught them with the opposite hands then rushed at her.

While this display was going on Rebecca had time to draw her own sword but that didn't mean she could suddenly use it. Sparks flew as she blocked both of the scimitars at once. Her mind worked franticly to think up a good strategy while she blocked one sword then another. She couldn't last long if she stayed on the defensive.

No brilliant flashes of inspiration came to her as she kept blocking. Rebecca's arms were getting more tired by the second. Then she suddenly found her back to the wall. She hadn't even noticed she was backing up, but now she was trapped in the corner of the long hall.

Dagoru didn't even work up a sweat she grinned wickedly then moved in for the kill. Rebecca blurted out "Why?"

She paused, her blade just a few inches from her chest. "Why? Well I might as well grant you one dieing question. Go ahead."

Rebecca's mind went blank. What rushed out of her mouth sounded like the corniest thing she had ever said. "Why did you shirk your duties as a protector of the tri-force?"

"Pff, for the power of course." She said and flipped her hair. "Kay, time up." but Rebecca just had something wiggle in the back of her mind, something that she just couldn't grab about the way she said it. The two blades came swinging at her from both sides and she ducked. She prayed she wouldn't impale herself as she rolled out of the way and turned around to block another onslaught from Dagoru. She smirked and deliberately slowed her attacks, driving her back like she did before.

If she didn't think too hard about anything in particular the sword blocks came easier and she could forget about the growing pain in her arms and legs. What was that little tickle she felt earlier? What could she possibly know about this girl that she knew for about ten minutes? Well, she was about five six… tanned… light clothes… about her age…

Her age. …!

A scene came unbidden to her mind. She watched from a classroom door five girls huddled in a hallway, trading notes with each other then laughing and writing back to the people across from them. Then one girl read a note and frowned. "Uh, no, this is not to cover pimples." She said in a snooty voice. She had make-up smeared all over her face and another one with the same stuff on her visage snickered. A third made a comment too low to hear and the first slapped the second. In a few minutes the close group of 'friends' were pulling hair and clawing faces.

This was what girls her age were supposed to do. This was what Rebecca utterly despised about girls in her world, snotty, rich, over done prima donnas with no two brain cells in her head.

She hoped to heaven they were like that here too.

She blocked again then stepped back. She returned the smirk that Dagoru was still wearing. "Heh, you call that sword play?" Rebecca laughed and leaned on her sword to give her arms a rest "where I come from we call that hedge trimming."

She got the exact effect she desired. Dagoru reared back and got that 'what did you just say to me bitch?' look on her face. "What did you just say to me bitch?" she said in the same tone she heard from Sheila Ottoman when Rebecca commented on her new ten inch long hoop earrings.

"All I'm saying is that your mommy must be so proud the way you swing those oversized crochet hooks"

The hands went on the hips and one foot stuck out. "Well," she said with the appropriate head bobbing "At least I know when I'm cross dressing. You even did a bad job at it."

Rebecca looked at herself and remembered she was in Zedar's tunic. "Yeah? Well I do know where you got those tacky clothes: the garbage dump."

"These are the latest fashions you gutter scum! I'll have you know that you smell worse than a Goron with diarrhea."

"At least my hair doesn't look like I skinned a cat for it!"

"At least I don't have a face that looks like a Moblin!"

"At least my name doesn't sound like a brand of laxatives!"

"Retarded Frog!"

"Crusty snob!"

"That's IT!" she screeched and flung both swords at her. Rebecca side stepped them easily as Dagoru went for the classic eye gouge. Rebecca swept her own sword up and leveled the edge an inch from her neck.

"Kneel or I'll cut your head off, stupid" she said. Not a classic line that people would quote for years but it snapped Dagoru back to her senses. She reached for her sword sheaths that were empty then saw them lying at least six feet away.

Dagoru faced her and glared. She swept her red hair out of the way and said "Well? What are you waiting for? Do it." Rebecca blinked. Wait, did she get philosophical about this yet? Oh yeah, Linnet interrupted. Maybe she could get a minute or two to think this out?

But Dagoru was having none of it. "You win, alright? Either kill me or give me back my swords and go another round."

"You, uh… still haven't answered my question." Rebecca said stalling for time. "Why did you give up being a Sage?"

"I told you already, bitch." She snarled "The power, the glory, to rule the Geredus at my master's side. Then no one will ever say again that I-" She shut her mouth suddenly as if she said too much. Her eyes were over bright with tears. "Just do it! It doesn't matter anymore, just do it!"

But Rebecca couldn't do it. She had never seen such a look of wild grief before, like Dagoru's perfect world was crashing down before her eyes. Rebecca had already taken her dream from her; she would not take her life. As soon as she thought it she nearly gagged.

She turned the sword sideways and smacked the flat of it against Dagoru's temple. She collapsed in a heap and Rebecca soon followed. Now that it was over she was dead tired and thought a little nap wouldn't go amiss.

Then she remembered something Kikaru had said. He had mentioned Saria, Ahna, and himself as the ones who believed she didn't kill queen Zelda. That left Junior and the Goth kid.

She still had work to do.

--

Sorion frowned as he gazed into his seeing dish. He leaned back in his chair and sighed. How could Dagoru get tricked like that? It boggled his mind to see her so easily duped.

Junior swore behind him. "How could she lose! We're the good guys, we can't lose!" It didn't confuse him how Junior could be tricked. Gorons were just stupid by nature.

"Dagoru was inexperienced. I don't think she ever fought in real combat before." he explained patiently. He waved his hand over his crystal plate and whispered "By Farore I wish to see Linnet."

Just as before the scene was a mass of whirling black green and pink. Saria was the most powerful sage by far and The Great Fairy… he didn't want to think of the powers she had kept secret.

Very well then, he would just have to do the back up plan.

"Junior, can you help me check on the prisoners?" he asked

Junior shuddered. "Come on Sorion, you know it gives me the creeps seeing them like that."

"They were traitors to the tri-force, they had to be punished."

"But what do you need me for?"

"Just come" He snapped. Sorion stood and opened the door. Junior grumbled but he went through. They walked down a corridor to the holding chambers.

"What's shakin' freaks?" Maurice was guarding the doors; lazily tossing the death pipe he called a 'gun' from hand to hand.

"I need to let Junior here in on our plan." Sorion said, keeping his face blank. Of all the fools he had to suffer, this one was the worst. So what he had Gannondorf's soul? He was still a blithering idiot.

Maurice got a conspiratorial look on his face. "Well then, enjoy your stay." He got up and pressed his key charm on the door for them.

Sorion silently cursed "Plan?" Junior said "Stay? What is all this?"

"Well come in and I'll show you" Sorion said with a bland smile. He shot a glare of annoyance at the smug looking Maurice and swept into the room. He was followed nervously by Junior.

Several glass bubbles filled with pink liquid were lined up against the wall. Three right now were occupied by Kikaru, Ahna, and Zedar. Sorion went over to one of the empty ones and gazed at it critically. "Junior, I need your opinion on this before I tell you."

"What's the matter?" Junior lumbered up to him and gazed into the bubble as well. "I don't see anything wrong with it, if that's what you're asking."

"That's because you aren't close enough. Stand here." he moved aside and let Junior stand right in front of it. "Now, my question is, does it look comfortable?"

"Comfortable? What, I-" He was cut off as Sorion came behind him and pushed. He staggered forward and fell against the bubble. It sucked him inside him before he could realize what was happening. Junior thrashed around in the liquid franticly. Sorion watched amused for a while then stepped up to the glass. Junior saw him and started pounding on the glass a look of pure hatred on his face. Gorons hated betrayal worse than being called names.

"Sorry friend." Sorion said with a smile "but in this battle Linnet needs some extra fire power." His smile widened "Oh look, I made a funny even you could comprehend." He hit the button that released heavy sedatives into the tank. When Junior finally hung limp Sorion threw a lever. Red fire was drawn out of the Goron and faded into the fluid around him

Sorion drew all of the fire magic he could out of Junior without killing him. Once he was sure the four captives were safe and sedated he left the chamber.

Maurice was there looking expectant. "How did it go?"

"How do you think it went idiot." He said "I came without him, is that any clue?"

"Don't you dare cop an attitude with me emo loser." He said losing his smile. "Or-"

"Or what" Sorion said sarcastically. "Kill me then face Linnet's wrath? I don't think so. Just put away that stupid toy and guard the doors like a good toady"

"You little asshole!" the gun came up but Sorion just smiled.

"Good day to you, Sir Fool." He walked down the hall followed by Maurice's curses. How he did love to antagonize him.

Back in his room he waved his hand over his gazing dish again. "By Farore I wish to see Linnet."

The scene had changed. A dark red magic the color of dried blood was pushing back the paler green and pink magic. Linnet would be victorious in no time. Now there was just one more task to take care of, the matter of the little pest scurrying around the castle.

This was going to be fun.


	10. Darkness

Ch:10, Darkness

_Y'know, there was one thing I didn't realize… this castle is freaking huge!_

Rebecca didn't know how long she had searched the castle, but she knew it was too long. After she locked Dagoru in a broom closet she started to search. She had to find the other sages, to save them or beat the crap out of them. Either one would be immensely satisfying right now. She was also worried that Linnet might show up at any minute.

Suddenly she caught something, the sound of an organ from far off. She ran in the direction of the noise, darting from doorway to doorway in case she had to doge something. The organ started getting louder. It was playing an insipid creepy tune like what you would expect from B horror movie. Oh great, she knew what was coming next.

She found the room that the music was emanating from and cautiously eased the door open. Black drapes covered the windows and cast black shadows on the black… everything in the freaking room! Tall braziers of black candles cast an eerie flickering light over the scene. Someone must be playing the organ, but he blended in with the back round so well it gave the illusion of no one being there. _Even all the keys on the keyboard are painted black!_ She thought disgustedly. _It's worse than I thought it would be._

"You like my humble abode?" a melancholy voice asked. "I'm so glad."

She drew her sword and crept closer to the organ. "Shut it weirdo." She said scowling. "God emo is one thing but this just takes the cake." She was right. This was the scary Goth kid's turf.

"I have been meaning to ask what 'emo' is, but I never got around to it." He said and kept on playing. "By the way, my name is Sorion and I'm glad you're easy to trick."

"Wait, what-" what felt like a boulder crashed into Rebecca's back the organ started playing a more cheerful tune as all the candles went out. The door she had left open creaked shut and she heard it lock.

Wonderful, not only was he emo, he was the crypt keeper.

"I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!" the voice that seemed to have come from the organ was now everywhere. She heard a 'swoosh' of air coming at her and she leapt blindly to the left. She collided painfully with what felt like the candle holder. Then suddenly it wasn't there anymore. Not pulled away from her, just not _there_. She fell with a cry to the floor that felt rubbery. In fact she sunk then bounced back up to her feet.

Whoa, his was just going way to fast. He was just trying to disorient her, make her loose her focus… or the sword! She noticed with a cold horror that she had dropped the sword! And of course with the room a pitch black madhouse she couldn't find it!

"There, no harm done… yet" the voice said gleefully. He was really getting a kick out of this. Rebecca clenched her hands angrily. Maybe she could taunt him out like she did with Dagoru? Somehow she didn't think so. She had to think of something before-

Something slapped Rebecca in the face, hard. She staggered backwards. Her foot slipped and she fell again but this time she kept falling! She screamed as she tumbled down, down, down, from solid nothingness to even more solid nothingness. Finally she did hit something more solid than nothingness and it hurt.

She picked herself up off the hard stone floor and tried to see where she was. She might as well have kept her eyes closed for all that it mattered. This blackness didn't just strain her sight it seemed to be a blanket that smothered her. She couldn't hear anything either and the silence itself resonated through her ears. Some time passed where she didn't move, trying to will her senses to work. Eventually she gingerly put her hands up and stumbled a few paces and touched something wispy

Rebecca choked back a yell then scoffed at herself. Why would she put her hands out to find something just to scream at the first discovery? She plucked at the wispy strands of thread and decided to leave it. She went a little farther and found another clump of strands. Only something was wrong, she couldn't let go of this one. The strands were covered in a sticky substance that she could not scrape off. The more she struggled the more the strands stuck until her whole left arm was trapped straight above her head.

"O.K., just calm down. Nothing down here but us chickens." She whispered to herself "I just got to get out of here… I've got to get a light." There was a small rustling sound.

Then a thrill of horror ran down her spine. Thick sticky strands meant spiders. She'd read Lord of the Rings enough to know what a lair full of webs meant. Another louder rustle came from above.

Oh hell no. no way Shelob had a cousin! That was just ridiculous; spiders can't get that big, no way. Their exoskeletons would collapse in on themselves. There was no way-

_Chs-chs-chs_ …

What was that!

_Chs-chs-chs_ _…_ _Chs-chs-chs…_ _Chs-chs-chs_ _Chs-chs-chs_ _Chs-chs-chs_ _Chs-chs-chs_

**CHS-CHS-CHS!**

Twin red points of light descended from the ceiling. They were everywhere! They surrounded her making a scary scraping noise. The red eyes shone just enough to reflect off their white bodies but nothing else. Rebecca struggled madly at the rope on her arm, she backed up….

Another shuddering scrape and something swiped at her side. She shrieked and was shoved the other way. There were more scrapings noises and several blows this time. Rebecca was tossed side to side, the things always hitting her back towards their companions who hit her back. This was like a horrible game of tether ball gone wrong and always the evil scraping noise!

The blows were not particularly strong but soon her whole body begged for relief. The arm that she swung from was on fire and she felt herself bleeding from several cuts. She knew she was going to pass out from the pain soon. She would die. She was going to die in this horrible blackness with the glowing eyes and the sound of the dancing monsters.

NO! Rebecca couldn't give up like this, she had to keep going! What did Sam do again? He used light of course, but she had no light, she had nothing. She would do anything for light!

_Dolt, remember what Saria said?_ The voice said scathingly

"Shut up, she said... magic." She remembered that.

Magic? What gifts were in that little crystal the Great Fairy had given her? Could she get to it while being smacked around by demons? She was still being buffeted by the storm of blows but she had retreated into herself like she did in the sword fight. She tried to locate the green light in the back of her mind and was surprised to see small round red, blue, and green lights as well. The red flared the brightest as if pleading to be used.

_Welp, here goes nothing_ she thought and gave the red magic a sharp mental poke.

Flames erupted around her. She thought for a terrifying moment she had wound up in hell. The fire showed she was surrounded by giant spiders as tall as herself only their bodies were made of skulls. They cried in pain and spun madly, trying to put themselves out. They evaporated into blue smoke and everything was dark again.

Rebecca found herself on the floor. The fire must have burned the spider web that held her. She checked herself over and took inventory. The cuts were superficial but the bruises would be a sight to behold in a few days. She would look like a big bag of skittles. The arm that she hung from felt strange but she would be alright in a few minutes of rest.

She retracted into herself again. The bigger green light was in the shape of a rectangle. That had shrunk a little. She guessed that was the 'gas tank' so to speak and the other lights were her spells. It was a nice simple system. She hoped she got it right. Well she knew what the red one did, what were the other two? Rebecca gave another mental poke, this time to the green one.

She felt a cool energy envelope her and a feeling of being lifted. After about three seconds of the rising sensation she was deposited with a plop in the dark again, only this time she felt carpet instead of stone. What happened? Was she somewhere new?

She tried to push herself up but her weak arm crumpled. She couldn't feel it at all. "No!" she whispered dismayed "that can't be good." there was no way she could use the sword now! Then again, she had to _find_ the sword again first. Avoiding the injured arm, Rebecca pushed herself to her feet and found there was a door right next to her. She opened it a chink and tears ran down her face at the sight beyond. Not just because she was so thankful to see it, but also her eyes were adjusted to total darkness and the light stung.

It was a door to a balcony, a sliver of light blue sky and white roof tiles glimmered promisingly. After that whole terrifying ordeal this seemed like heaven.

Suddenly she whirled around and brought up her good arm. She blocked the knife that was going right for her neck. The chink of light let in showed a stripe of a pale face with black makeup. His eyes bugged out like he saw a ghost.

"How did you escape them?" Sorion demanded outraged "How did you detect me! You can't fight the shadows forever!"

"I never did have to fight them till you came along dim-wit" Rebecca said angrily. She threw the door to the balcony wide open and he raised his arms to shield his dark adjusted eyes. She bowled him over with her good shoulder and grabbed the dagger.

It melted, shrank into shadow, and disappeared before her eyes. Sorion was on his feet now, a wicked looking black saber in his hands. He glared at her mockingly. "Play by my rules and you shall have the sword back." He challenged. "Come in and duel me. Close the door as well."

Rebecca hesitated then smiled widely. "Why of course I will! I wouldn't be so discourteous to refuse." She snapped the door shut and was thrown into total black once more.

"Fool." The voice of Sorion was all around her again. "You are in my domain now, and none who have entered in here has ever come out alive."

"Huh? Cause either that means you've never left your room or you're an animated corpse. That's really creepy, really cool, or a lie."

"I-uh I-" he spluttered "you know what I mean curse it!"

She took his moment of distraction and gave red another jab. Flames flared up, cutting back the darkness and catching Sorion off guard. He was just a few feet away and looked like he was about to charge her when she cast the spell. He was knocked back by the heat and the room went dark again.

Rebecca frowned. She was betting that all the candles would catch light again. Why wasn't it working? "Ah, I seemed to have underestimated you." the voice sounded testy this time. "I'm dealing with a fledgling sorceress. I know just what to do with you."

Crap! She had to act right now! She hesitated one second then prodded the blue light. There was a loud crack and she was shoved hard in one direction for no reason. She certainly hadn't felt anything. Rebecca gingerly put her hand out and brushed it against what felt like warm glass.

She braced herself for the next blow. It crashed against her but she dug her feet in and stayed upright. She felt the glass around her give slightly then spring back. A shield spell, this was perfect! She could catch her breath and…

The glass was slowly loosing heat. That couldn't be good. She checked her power bar and was shocked to find it three fourths gone. The spell would soon give out and she would be left defenseless! She tried jabbing at the blue again.

The next blow got Rebecca in the stomach. The brutal uppercut lifted her up off her feet and threw her across the room. He must have known she dropped her magic shield because what felt like a snake started wrapping around her entire body. She couldn't react fast enough to stop it from pinning her arms to her sides and holding her tightly in its grip. It covered everything up to her mouth, but suddenly the light came back and she could see again.

Sorion loomed over her leering. "You can live. Simply join linnet and I and you will get a small corner of Hyrule to yourself. With the tri-force and all of the sage's powers combined absolutely nothing could stop us."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Ask a bad guy question, get a good guy answer. Go to hell."

Her neck snapped in half.

The blackness returned, but the pain vanished. She was cold. No, not cold, numb. She was even more lost than in the pit of spiders because she had lost all sense of _self_. She was going to sleep now.

Then something came. There was a small white object in the distance that came closer and closer. Rebecca focused her consciousness on it.

The object was a fairy. It came so close that it filled her vision. It touched her and she was aware of having a body again. She gasped in the air she didn't notice she wasn't breathing. The numbness left and she heard a weird disjointed sound. She sought to place it… laughter. Maniacal laughter filled her ears.

She opened a bleary eye and saw there was light again. Someone stood over her, laughing. Rebecca touched the red light unconsciously.

The figure was blown back by the force of the fire and flung against the wall. He slumped and didn't move. Rebecca felt so weird, like she had energy but her mind had yet to grasp what to do with it.

She slowly raised her hand to her neck. It seemed normal but… oh god she _felt_ the bone break! What happened? Had she…_died?_ Saria had shoved something at her… Rebecca groped for it and found an empty bottle. Saria had stuck a bottled fairy in her pocket and saved her life. Rebecca closed her eyes and sent a prayer to her, hoping her battle with Linnet wasn't going too badly.

She checked her magic rectangle and found it to be full. Well, that was one less thing to worry about. She also checked her damaged arm, but it felt perfectly fine now. In fact, all of her small injuries had disappeared.

She slowly stood up and went to the crumpled heap that was Sorion. She nudged him with her foot to make sure he was out then wondered what to do with him. To be truthful, the nudge was more like a kick. How would _he_ like it if she broke his neck? Or maybe just a finger or two…

_No_, Rebecca sighed _I'll just tie him up like a good little hero._ She yanked down one of the black curtains and used it to bind his legs and wrists. Once that was done she felt she was missing something important. Oops, duh, the sword of course. Where was that thing?

She looked around and wondered why she hadn't spotted it before. The sword of time was locked in a bright pink, liquid filled bubble on a table shoved in a corner. She went up and felt the sphere gingerly. It was hard, and when she pushed and scratched it didn't budge. Rebecca was starting to panic, how was she going to get the sword out of there?

She slowly circled the room, scrutinizing everything that could be used on the weird bubble. There was normal bedroom furniture, but like Zedar's room it had also been turned into a semi-laboratory. Although, she would guess Sorion's various potions, charts, and amulets wouldn't be as innocent as any of his inventions.

Then a chest caught her eye, a small wooden chest just lying on the floor. She approached it warily and prodded it with her foot. _I hope I don't have to check for traps_ she thought and bent down to open it. A soft light came out of it when the lid was flipped back and a tinkling music came from it. Rebecca threw herself back with a yell. The chest faded and she looked inside.

What was in the box looked like a weapon, almost like a miniature bazooka. She picked it up carefully and the small sack that was lying under it. Much to her surprise, beneath the sack was a small card with the instructions printed on it. _Very nice of him_ she thought.

It read "seed shooter: with this new technology, I have created my own version of a gun. Equip to c- buttons and load with either shot seeds, fire seeds, or mystery seeds.

A gun. Of course, the mad scientist over there gave it magic bullets. She really, _really_ wanted to put it back and forget it was there. Then with a lurch, her body started to move on its own again. She opened the sack, loaded the gun and aimed at the bubble. She shot and it burst open leaving the sword gleaming on the table.

"This whole 'Let's move around without my consent' is starting to tic me off!" she muttered angrily to herself

_Deal with it. I help you and you help Hyrule. Look out the door._ So there was a voice in her head now too.

"Great, nobody ever mentioned that the tri-force of courage turned you into a mental case" she said, not caring if anyone heard. She marched over to the door and flung it open, just to make her schizophrenic self happy.

Rebecca gasped as she saw that the sun was almost touching the horizon. Had she been fighting for that long? She got another body shove in the direction of the table with the sword. "Got you loud and clear" she said and tucked the gun and ammunition in her pocket. She hated the thought of using a gun, but she needed every weapon she could get she sheathed her sword and left the room.

Sorion stirred and sat up. "How naive." He sneered and the makeshift ropes fell off of him "I'll just prepare the inner castle for our guest"


	11. Pressing forward

Ch 11, Pressing forward

Maurice was soooooo bored

Pressing forward

Maurice was _soooooo_ bored.

He did some target practice with his gun. He took a nap. He checked on the prisoners. Man he needed a video game or something.

Relief came when the weirdo was back. He tried to hide it, but that was the look of someone who got totally owned. "So, where's the prisoner?" he asked with a smirk.

"Shut your face, mud worm" he snarled. "I need to draw more power to shift the castle."

"You mean to say" he was fighting not to laugh "That you got you butt handed to you by that little girl?"

"I said silence!" Sorion's face was contorted with rage "When you defeat her, I will concede to you, but as of yet, you have done nothing but cower up here."

"I say I did my part" He lazily flipped the gun around in his hand. Sorion whirled around and was closing the door when Maurice coughed "pansy"

There was a growl from the other room, but he didn't come back. Man he loved to razz that freak.

--

"Hey, be useful for once and tell me where I'm supposed to go." Rebecca whispered to herself. "I'm not even sure what I'm trying to find!"

_Zedar and the sages_ the voice answered promptly.

"Yes, but where are they?"

It remained silent.

"Useless piece of crap!" she said fiercely but quietly. "and now, I'm fuggin' talking to myself!"

_Then shut up and look._

She ground her teeth and kept walking. Since the battle, she had gone through hallway after hallway and hadn't met anyone. Rebecca had a bad feeling that nothing had happened for too long. Something was coming, and she wasn't going to enjoy it.

She opened the next door and it led into, surprise, another hallway. It was pretty nondescript but there was one thing that she hadn't seen before. A huge suit of armor stood at the end of the corridor. There wasn't a side door, so the armor was probably blocking the exit. "Weird place for a hood ornament." she said to herself and slowly approached it. She didn't like the gi-normos sword it was holding. It looked way too big for a normal human to wield.

_GET BACK!_ The voice sounded scared instead of snotty this time, so Rebecca leaped back as the suit of armor started to move. The sword whipped around, passing through the air where her body would have been. It lowered the sword and slowly started towards her.

"What the heck is that supposed to be? Not very impressive" she was startled at first, but then realized the thing was as slow as a mummy. She nonchalantly backed up as the thing lumbered after her.

_Darknaut: weakness is the straps on its back. Slice them to take off his armor"_

"Thanks, but no thanks I'll just back out of the room and find another way."

_Oh yeah? Look behind you._

Rebecca looked over her shoulder and saw to her horror that there was an iron grill over the door out. She looked back at the darknaut her and took stock of her situation. The corridor was too small to try and get around the armor and she couldn't go back. As soon as it boxed her in the corner, she would be done for.

She had to think fast! She reached for her sword then shook her head. She wouldn't be able to reach its back because the passage was too narrow. The thing had gotten close enough to take another swipe at her and Rebecca backed up, drawing the seed gun at the same time. She picked a yellow seed just out of curiosity. Ready, aim, shoot!

It struck sparks off the things armor but it didn't slow it down a second. "Next color" she said and hastily reloaded with a red seed. There was only half of the hallway between her and the darknaut now, she needed a lucky break!

She aimed and shot. This time, the thing reeled back ad the seed exploded, leaving a hole in the helmet. It righted itself, grunted angrily and continued moving forward. Rebecca reloaded another red seed and shot again, trying to aim for about the same spot. It exploded again, but this time it didn't stop, in fact it sped up! The thing was now jogging towards her and closing the gap rapidly.

"Crap crap crap!" she grabbed a green colored seed. This would be her absolutely last chance to shoot and she needed to make it count. She aimed for the big hole she made in the darknaut's helmet. With a prayer she fired.

The seed struck it square in the face. The thing continued its charge. She drew her sword quickly ready to fend off a blow. It raised its weapon high and swung downwards. Rebecca's sword went up to meet it and they met with a resounding squish.

Um, squish?

The darknaut had turned a sickly shade of green including his sword. It let out a metallic shriek as it started to change. It shrank, growing rounder and greener. Finally it became a clear green blob with two round black eyes that glared up at her accusingly. It launched itself at her foot and clung there.

_That was a mystery seed._ The voice said for an explanation. _Don't rely on them too much._

"Shall do" Rebecca thought she had taken that very well for a change. She reloaded then stuffed the shooter and seeds back into her pocket and shook off the green blob that tried to wriggle menacingly on the floor. "You weren't that tough when you had a freaking huge sword, don't try and scare me now" Rebecca confidently went to the end of the hallway. She had shown that monster! That was a piece of cake compared to fighting the sages. She was finally getting a hand of all the heroic stuff! She flung open the door.

Three darknauts were waiting in the next room.

Oh nuts.

--

After Sorion had placed guard monsters all around the castle he settled down to watch the fireworks in his gazing dish. To be fair, the girl had gotten better at wielding both the sword and her magic. There she melted one darknaut's armor with fire and then spun to block another's weapon. The third however kicked her in the ribs and she fell. It was just getting good when he heard the door to the prison open

"I thought I told you to-" he looked up into Linnet's cold face.

"You were saying?" she asked slowly.

"Queen Linnet" he jumped to his feet and bowed. "I had not realized that you had returned. Have you the last sage?"

"No" she snapped. "That blasted fairy warped her out of my reach. Did you capture the last bearer?"

Sorion flinched "she will be caught momentarily, my liege"

"Really? I thought you were the competent one Sorion." She made a symbol the air rippled. A scene appeared in the air out of nothingness of Rebecca slowly circling the last Darknaut who had picked up an extra sword from one of his defeated allies.

Linnet angrily brushed it away. "This is unacceptable. What have you done to the castle?"

"I summoned guardians for every room. She will not make it past-"

"How dare you waste magical power! Remove them at once and let her reach the tower. Now send the boy in" she turned her back on him and went to one of the empty cells.

"Yes Queen Linnet" he bowed and went to leave the room. Wasting powers, remove the guards, he wasn't some brainless idiot! When he opened the door, Maurice fell into the room. He had obviously been eavesdropping "Why you-"

"Sorion, leave us" Linnet said in a dangerous voice, then "Maurice! How nice it is to see you again!"

"Even better for me Queen." He said standing up and giving an elaborate bow. "Weren't you going somewhere, Freak?" he hissed out of the side of his mouth

Sorion bowed again to Linnet and stormed off. He desperately wanted to know what was going on in the prison, but listening at keyholes was below him. He stopped in an empty room and pulled out his seeing dish. "By Farore I wish to see Linnet." He added another hand sign to make sure he could hear everything as well.

"…New invention?" Linnet had come into focus and was showing Maurice a bubble cell. Instead of usual pink, it was crystal clear.

"What is it for?" he leaned closer to the cell. How Sorion wished he could just reach over and shove him in.

"To be truthful Maurice, I am disappointed with the way Gannondorf has manifested himself in you." she placed a hand on his shoulder. "All of his greatness is covered by your own useless and pitiful mind."

Maurice turned red "What! How dare you speak to me that way! You may be queen of this dump, but I am Gannondorf!"

"How dare you speak of my master that way!" Linnet grabbed both of his shoulders and made him face her. Her face was taunt with rage and her eyes were like ice. "How dare you even utter his name you foul cretin! I cannot fathom how the most powerful man in all of Hyrule could have possibly chosen _you_ to carry on his legacy, you mindless little worm! I will not stand you for another second!" with that she lifted him up off the floor and thrust him into the bubble. Maurice struggled to smash the walls but it was pointless. Linnet pushed the sedative switch then bent closer to the cell

"I have modified this bubble just for you, boy" she said with a small smile "This doesn't draw out power, oh no. It draws out souls, the soul of the one I really want to serve, Lord Gannondorf. I'm afraid you'll just be washed out with the fluid Maurice. But don't worry; I think it will be painless."

Sorion let the image fade. That was some real entertainment! And the thought of serving under the real Gannondorf instead of the mere vessel, that was beyond his wildest dreams! Linnet truly is a great leader, and must not be questioned. He set to the task of removing all of the guards and making the passageway to the tower clear.


	12. Update

ch 12, Update

Rebecca carefully sheathed her sword before she collapsed. _Always with the falling and the downing._ She thought and tried to sit up. She hissed and clutched her side. That kick the first darknaught got on her was a nasty one, and there was a long cut on her right forearm. Other than that she could keep going. She got up slowly using the wall for support.

_Break some of those pots in the corner_ the voice said imperiously.

"Go screw yourself." Rebecca muttered trying hard not to move her torso. "Then again, you're in my head. Don't do anything weird."

Out came the gun and fired at the pot. A few red lumps and a green jar came fluttering out of them to settle on the floor.

_Eat them_

"I prefer to know what I am eating and where it comes from."

_Too bad, they'll make you feel better_

"Well… since you haven't killed me yet." She limped over and picked up the red things first. They looked like valentines to be honest.

"Are you sure?" the voice didn't respond "Fine" she huffed and gulped two down. She gagged; they were rubbery and tasted like blood. "Frick! You just made me eat a real heart!"

_If you noticed, you feel fine. Now drink the potion, it replenishes magic._

She couldn't argue with that. The pain in her ribs had subsided and the cut on her arm had scabbed over. "It was still sick" she said sulkily and downed the potion. It was better, but only slightly. They couldn't make medicines that tasted good in this world either.

This time, she edged cautiously over to the door and opened it a crack. She peered into the room and didn't see anything. Rebecca opened the door and nothing happened. She poked her head in and nothing happened. She rushed across the room to the next doorway and nothing came out to attack her. She opened the next door a little more quickly in case something was behind her.

She raced through three more rooms before she realized something was wrong. After two heavily guarded rooms there was nothing? That couldn't be right. Something had happened and now her way was unchallenged. At least she hoped it was the right way and that she hadn't taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque.

Rebecca slowed after finding the fifth room just as barren. This was getting ridiculous! "You have any comments on the matter?" She said to herself.

_We're getting close_

"I just hope I like what I'm getting close to."

--

"Zedar?"

What? Ahna? He was just waking up from his drugged sleep again. He squirmed a little closer to the edge of the glass so he could see out more clearly. He saw there was an entire row of bubbles extending to his left and right. Immediately to his right, the silhouette of Ahna hung suspended in liquid.

"Zedar, can you hear me?" He tried to open his mouth, but being submerged in ooze makes talking difficult. "Think a thought if you can hear me."

"SANDWICHES" he thought very loudly.

"Interesting reply. Are you fully awake?"

"Yes I'm awake; I just thought the first thing that came to me." He thought back. "What happened? Where are we?"

"Most of the sages, like you, have been captured. These _things_ contain us and sap our strength." He heard a thump from his left of Ahna striking the side of her prison in anger. "No doubt for some dark purpose."

"It's the extractor." He thought angrily

"The what?"

"The extractor. I made these things years ago."

"_You_ made them!?"

"Yes, but not for this. They're for extracting sweeter juices out of fruits. This is a smoothie machine for goddesses's sake!" he rubbed his knuckles "No doubt Sorion got a hold of the plans. He was always eying my inventions, little cretin."

"Then this is a stroke of luck! You know how to get out of these things, correct?"

"It takes a sharp object or a hard blow." Zedar examined his fingernails. "And in both cases we are out of luck… unless maybe if Junior-"

"I will not ask him."

"But he's the only one strong enough to-"

"I will not ask him because he is one of them who betrayed us, along with Sorion and Dagoru. Then they betrayed him. Such is the justice of the world." She said coldly "When we get out of these evil things the sages will strip them of all rank and powers."

Now that was a surprise. Sorion of course, but Junior and Dagoru? Linnet must have forced them to play along. "Well then, if you won't ask Junior we'll be stuck in here longer. I suggest we start scratching, because we're on our own for help."

"Not entirely. I still have a little power left, and I sense the girl moving towards us."

Rebecca? She was still alive? Moving _towards_ them? He thought she was long gone by now, searching for a way back home. How could she possibly believe that she could beat Linnet and that boy? They would kill her, then they would finish off him for- he looked at the back of his hand. There it was, the lower left triangle of the tri-force gleamed bright on his hand. What Linnet thought she would inherit if she killed Grandma Zelda: The tri-force of knowledge. Although, he wasn't feeling very smart right now, He felt like the biggest fool in Hyrule. Why had he-

Thump thump thump.

Zedar was startled out of his reverie by a noise "What is that?" Ahna asked curiously.

"I don't know." He pressed his face against the side of his tank. A steady pounding was coming from his left. What could that be? Zedar wriggled over to the side of the glass. If he pushed his nose flat against the glass and squinted he could almost see something in the next cell over. Then it came closer too and he flinched back in surprise. Was that…? He pushed his face back as the pounding became frantic. Not true. Not true by Din's fires.

It was Maurice!

He knew why he and the sages were in here, but what was Maurice doing locked up? Zedar waved to him.

Maurice stopped pounding. He looked absolutely panic stricken. He pointed to himself, then to the glass.

A way out? He shook his head and drew away from the glass. The pounding became more frantic. _Sorry scrub,_ Zedar thought dryly to only himself _but I have to think how I'm getting out of here before I consider what to do to you._

--

"…Ahh, ow... Oh what- Gyah!" waking up to three identical ugly faces peering closely at you was enough to scare anyone into full conscious. Saria sat bolt upright and immediately wished she hadn't. She hadn't felt this bad in decades. The Great fairies surrounding her all sighed in relief.

"Thank the Goddesses you're all right!" the Great Fairy from Death Mountain cried.

"Thought we lost you for a while." The Hyrule Lake Fairy added soberly. "I never knew there could be curses that foul"

"Nor anyone from the royal family willing to use it" muttered the Desert Colossus Fairy darkly.

Saria Looked around her. She was in a different fairy fountain, and- She couldn't help giving a strangled cry when she saw the Castle Great Fairy lying in the shallow pool of water in the center of the cave. The small fairies had all landed on the Great Fairy's body. They were trying to heal her, but nothing was happening. She still lay unconscious in the water.

Saria was now panicking. Linnet could cast a curse that could wound a Great Fairy?! Not even Gannon could do that! "What's happening? Oh My Goddess, is she going to be alright? What happened to Rebecca?" Rebecca! She thought so before, but now there was no doubt in her mind that Rebecca could not win. Not against such strong black magic.

"Calm down Saria" The lake Fairy said sternly. "Our younger sister shall be quite alright if she is strong enough. If she spent more time respecting the past instead of working on her newfangled inventions she wouldn't be in this mess."

"How are we going to expect visitors anymore if nobody needs to come to our fountains for upgrades?" huffed the Desert Fairy.

"Now's not the time, dear" The Mountain Fairy put an arm around her. "Besides, I know you're just cranky from all of us crashing in your fountain."

"Please!" Saria said exasperated "What's happening at the castle! How long have I been out! Has Rebecca-"

"If it will calm you down, we'll tell you" The Lake Fairy interrupted "Rebecca has done a spectacular job in defeating both the rebel Sand Sage and rebel Shadow Sage. She's on her way to the tower where the Witch Queen waits."

"Then we haven't much time." Saria struggled to get up. "We must leave for the castle at once!"

"Overruled" The Lake Fairy put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back onto the bed. "You're in no condition to fight Forest Sage."

"Then why don't you go?" Saria asked desperately. "All three of you combined could defeat anything!"

The Mountain Fairy looked at her frightened "After what happened to our sister? No way!"

"But with three of you, Linnet couldn't possibly curse you!" Saria pleaded.

The Great Fairies looked at her silently. "Saria." The Desert Fairy said slowly. "Our youngest sister was not wounded by the Witch Queen. That is impossible. She is not hurt, she is being punished."

Saria was struck dumb. "Punished?" The only thing big enough to give a Great Fairy a spanking was-

The Lake Fairy gazed into the distance "When the Goddesses created Fairies, we became their leaders. The goddesses explained to us that we were much too powerful to meddle in the affairs of Hyrule Kingdom." Then she looked at Saria "Only when the Witch Queen begins to wage war on the Fairy Kingdom are we allowed to act. I'm sorry, Forest Sage but we have already given the Courage Bearer the gifts we can." She waved to the Castle Fairy "And one gift we shouldn't have."

Saria looked down at her lap. How could she have known that? Even though she was born hundreds of years ago, the Great Fairies had been alive since the world was made. But there was still a glimmer of hope. "The Goddesses. Is there anyway the goddesses can help us?"

"As a Sage, you should know that answer, and what brings them to Hyrule." The Desert Fairy crossed her arms. "We can only pray that The Bearer knows that as well."

"I think that's enough talking for now" The Lake Fairy said, gently pushing Saria so she was lying back down on her bed "Time for you to rest again. The healing has made you weak and you still need to recover."

Even though she was still worried sick, she was also exhausted. But Saria did have one more question. "You said gifts" She muttered sleepily "and S means plural."

"Ah, you mean the gift Hero of Time asked us to give her." The Mountain Fairy smiled. "We trained him ourselves for about a year before he was ready."

"All those cool moves he could pull off" the Desert Fairy agreed. "Possession, invisibility, healing and boosts, and sharp as a tack as well. I almost wished I could have kept him instead."

Were they talking about… hah, well then Rebecca wasn't alone. That did make her feel a bit better. Saria dropped off to sleep and the Great Fairies continued their waiting in silence.


	13. Witch Queen and Dark King

ch 13, Witch Queen and Dark King

"Well this has to be… something" Rebecca had found yet another empty room, but this time it had opulent decorations. A staircase rose before her with a deep red carpet lining the steps. Torches flickered eerily on the black stone walls and the carved wooden banisters. The only thing well lit was a large portrait of Maurice with a scepter and a crown sitting on a throne. It was right above the door at the top of the staircase. She noted that the artist had removed all traces of acne and hair gel.

Oh, this was definitely a signal. It was flagging 'someone with a god complex straight ahead' seriously, it had only been one day and Maurice was taking over? Well, she was about to be shown the error of her ways.

She crept up the stairs slowly. Should she try to be sneaky, or just barge in? Somebody was probably waiting for her, so she should rush in and try to attack before they were ready. She reached the door and paused. _O.K._ she thought _O.K. deep breath and-_ she unsheathed her sword, readied her magic, and burst through the door.

"Yarg!" someone yelled as she collided with him. There was a crash as plates and something splattered all over her. The person fell and Rebecca tripped over him in her panic. She rolled quickly and sprang up brandishing her sword at-

The waiter?

She looked quickly around and was horrified to see that she was in a fancy banquet hall. Several other waiters gawked at her form the sides of the room and at the very far end of the long rectangular table sat Linnet and Maurice. She quickly looked down at herself and saw that she was covered with very expensive looking hors d'ouvres.

"Bravo!" Linnet had stood and was clapping "Bravo! I didn't know we hired a professional jester for the evening!"

Words could not describe… words could not describe what Rebecca was feeling right now. Her face probably had gone past just red and was magenta. But she had to act cool, act cool in front of the enemy! She carefully sheathed her sword and brushed the crumbs of food off her. Luckily the food didn't stain. She coughed nonchalantly into her fist and walked up the side of the table. It nearly took her a whole minute to walk to the other end of the table, yet her mind still hadn't grasped exactly what was happening.

"Ah, I do apologize for that." Linnet said smoothly with a winning smile "But you must admit, it looked very funny from our point of view. Only I think you traumatized our poor waiter. They aren't used to being assaulted you know."

Oh, she was good. Before Rebecca was the hardened murderess, now she was the esteemed guest. If Linnet was going to try to win her over with lots of flattery and a fancy tea party she was sorely mistaken

"Please sit! It wouldn't do for our guest to be uncomfortable!" she cried and waved to the seat across from her. Maurice was sitting at the head of the table in the biggest chair and Linnet was to his right. She did a double take when she saw Maurice.

He was sitting totally at ease with himself, in dark black armor that covered everything up to his neck. But it just wasn't his new outfit that caught her eye. He seemed… different. He wasn't making potty jokes or sneering like an idiot as usual. He stayed silent with a small smile with eyes slightly narrowed. Like a cat eyeing a mouse.

She slowly sat down, keeping eye contact with Maurice. She had never seen this bag of puss so… smug. _I really don't like this_ she thought to herself.

"Here's the first course." Linnet said, breaking the silence. Rebecca tore her eyes away from Maurice with a start as a plate of food was set before her. Suddenly her stomach growled. Damn, she was so busy saving Hyrule that she forgot to eat for two whole days!

Linnet laughed "I hope you enjoy this! I had my cooks work all day on this. It's poached Hylian Loach in cream sauce."

Rebecca looked at the delicacy before her. What a curveball! She didn't expect to do lunch with the people she came to defeat! Dinner date with the ultimate evil? Rebecca thought not. It probably had an extra surprise just for her. "What do you think?" she muttered under her breath.

_Definitely a no._ the voice responded _and stay alert. You know this is going to end in a showdown._

Linnet was already eating with wonderful manners. Maurice was still staring at her; he hadn't even touched his plate. She locked eyes with him again. Maybe she could figure out his sudden change before Linnet opened her big yap-

Linnet looked up when Rebecca didn't move. "Ah, distrustful I see. Don't worry; I wouldn't resort to such crude methods as poisoning my enemies. And besides" She smiled warmly "You don't have to be our enemy. In fact, you could be one of our greatest allies."

Here it comes. "I already gave my answer to Sorion. You know, the guy broke my neck."

Linnet's eyes grew wide and she clapped a hand to her mouth "Sorion _killed_ you? But how is that possible, you're right here!"

"I happened to have a fairy." Rebecca scowled "And you can stop the nice act, I know the options. I have to either join you or be killed. Like what happened to your own grandmother."

A small spasm crossed Linnet's face but quickly passed. She sat back in her chair and sighed. "That was a very unfortunate accident. I deeply regret my dear Grandmother's passing."

"The only way you regret something is that you didn't get what you want." Rebecca said coldly. "Now, why am I here sitting in this fancy hall watching you eat instead of kicking your ass."

There was another spasm, Rebecca was watching closely this time and saw for a split second that her face was contorted with wrath. Then it was just as quickly smoothed out and a pleasant smile replaced it. Man that was creepy

"I simply wanted to talk with you about a third option. One that isn't as displeasing to you as the two you mentioned." Linnet leaned forward again and rested her chin in her hand. "Want to hear it."

"I could use a good joke. Go ahead."

"You could simply walk away. Give me the tri-force of courage and I will escort you personally to the secret exit in the Geradu Desert. You would be in the very exciting land of Termina, where you could slay monsters and rescue people to your heart's content. No meddlesome sages or annoying princes to get in your way there."

"Or blatantly fake sorceresses?" Rebecca asked sweetly "And no school yard bullies with delusions of grandeur?"

Linnet stiffened and glanced quickly to Maurice. His smile had widened. "Oh, I'm sorry your highness" Rebecca said scathingly. "Maybe you have some comment on this matter."

When he finally spoke his voice was powerful and deep and definitely not Maurice's "I believe you should take the offer I'm kindly giving you. I will not take abuse a second time."

What the hell? If they look like someone different, act like someone different, and sound like someone different, then it's someone other than Maurice sitting across from her. But who was he then?

Her confusion was not missed by him. Maurice chuckled "Where are my manners? I have not introduced myself." He placed his right hand over his heart and made a half bow to her "Lord Gannondorf at your disposal."

Alarm bells immediately went off in her head, literally. A jingling sound started in her ears. _OH SHIT! REBECCA, IT'S GANNONDORF!_ _He's gotten rid of Maurice! That's Gannon sitting right there! oh shit, Shit , SHIT._

The voice screamed so loudly in her head it made her wince. Gannondorf! But she killed- no that was the body, Kikaru had said the soul was in- Crap! What did this mean? Was she about to get her butt handed to her? Was she ready to take both of them on at once? Should she play along until she had a better opportunity?

Something on her face must have shown what she was thinking. Maur- Gannondorf chuckled. "Rethinking your answer? How wise. Link should have chosen his protégé with more care." Hs chuckle turned into a roaring laugh "A bearer of courage who is a coward at heart!"

_Rebecca, listen to me_ the voice said franticly _you have to get out of here, you can't take both of them at once! You have to run-_

"Shut up."

Rebecca was now on her feet, Hands clenched. "I am not a coward!" She held up her hand for Gannondorf to see. "And this is why! I have the tri-force of courage, it was entrusted to me! I will not be afraid of you, or anyone else!"

Gannondorf raised his eyebrows "But Rebecca, you don't have to be afraid of me to let me kill you" He stood slowly and unsheathed his sword that he was hiding under the table, A huge broadsword almost as long as she was. Linnet also stood. Many large black tentacles of magic were coming out of her back.

_You've done it now…_ the voice said weakly. _I was about to say run and find the sages for help, you idiot._

"Oh, that makes sense."


	14. The Final Battle

ch 14, The Final Battle

"Shield up, shield up, shield up!" Rebecca screamed as she raced down a corridor. She was bleeding profusely from her shoulder where Gannondorf had cut her and she was still gasping from when Linnet had nearly strangled her to death with her magic. She only just got away with a series of fire spells and a sweet shot with a mystery seed right in Linnet's face.

Rebecca had chosen the first door she had seen and was now racing away from the main hall. She didn't need to turn around to know she was being chased. The voice piped up _Look, I can help heal your arm, but that means I'll be busy for a while. You might not feel as strong as you usually are, so you should hide._

"Hide, right, where" she panted. She had come to some spiral stairs leading downward. There was no way she could hide on those, except… the stairway had sconces on the wall for holding torches, and the walls were pretty close together…

--

"She came this way" She heard Linnet say as they came down the corridor "She can't have gotten far."

"Hmm, she actually thinks she could escape us?" Gannondorf shook his head "Foolish as well as spineless." Rebecca shifted angrily in her hiding place. _We'll just see, evil bastard._

"She's trapped anyway. The holding cell door is impenetrable, I made sure of that." They began walking down the stairs. They turned a corner and were out of sight

Holding cells… Jackpot! This corridor led to where the sages were being held! Only, now there were going to be two powerful bad guys down there as well as an 'impenetrable' door. How was she going to get to them now?

Suddenly, she heard Linnet's voice echo up the stairs. "That's strange" she murmured "I sense her being farther away now. She didn't come down these stairs."

_Oh fuck_! The footsteps were coming back up the stairs! She didn't know Linnet had Rebecca radar! Being up in her hiding place was beginning to strain her arm and legs, and the angle she was at, they'd be sure to see-

They turned the corner on the stairs and froze, seeing Rebecca suspended in mid-air. Her feet were wrapped around one high sconce in the wall and her arms wrapped around the sconce across from it.

"Fancy meeting you here!" Rebecca said brightly. She let go of the walls just as Gannondorf threw his sword at her. She landed with a thud and began to roll down the stairs before she could stop herself. Linnet levitated herself and Gannondorf out of the way before they were tripped and Rebecca continued her descent down the stairs, picking up more speed. They heard her swearing all the way down.

"Certainly not Link." Linnet said with a smirk

"Not a bit" agreed Gannondorf.

--

O.K., he was awake again.

Zedar had just formulated an escape plan when Sorion came back in and drugged him again. He pressed his face up to the edge of the bubble to see who was in the room. All he could see was two shadowy figures across the room and hear a muffled cheering.

He'll have to deal with them. They had taken all of his charms that were hidden in the obvious places, around his neck, in his pockets, in his boots… luckily he had some in not so obvious places.

He felt the edge of his tunic. The long soak and made the thread in his clothes weak. He ripped the hem open and grabbed the braided gold necklace that was in there. He reached for the back of his knee. He took out of the secret compartment there a seed pearl barely bigger than a grain of sand on a thin wire. Finally he reached up into the top of his left cheek and pulled out a thin blue crystal wrapped in silver wire. He had stored it there in water-proof gum that stuck it firmly to his mouth.

Yes, people would say he was paranoid, but it seemed to have paid off.

He tied all the necklaces around his neck, and then took off his tunic. There were two pipes covered with grates at the bottom of his cell. One of them pumped liquid in and the other took it out again. It was to make sure the prisoners got enough oxygen in their cells, he guessed. Zedar stuffed the tunic over the pipe that pumped liquid into his bubble and held it there. Slowly, very slowly, the pink goo began to filter out of his cell. The bubble began to deflate like a tired balloon.

It was working! He put his foot on the tunic to keep the pipe clogged and then stood up. His head was now above the liquid. He reached up, grabbed the soggy cell wall, and tore it.

Without the pressure behind it, the cell wall burst like wet paper. He slid out with the rest of the goo as Dagoru and Sorion both sprang to their feet. They were huddled around a table watching something on a seeing dish.

"What the-!" Dagoru yelled and Zedar jumped to his feet. Sorion readied his magic, a look of intense anger etched on his face.

"No you don't" Zedar bellowed and whipped out his pearl on a string. He whispered the key word and a dazzling beam of light shot from it, blinding anyone who saw it directly. Sorion shrieked in rage and fell to the floor, eyes streaming.

Dagoru was striding across the room. She raised both of her swords to strike at him, but Zedar had pulled out his blue crystal. He shouted the magic word and it lengthened into a staff which he swung up to block her. The scimitars struck the crystal staff and one of them shattered. The other sent a small shock of magic traveling up Dagoru's sword, making it sting her hand. She dropped it and Zedar conked her over the head with his staff. She slumped to the floor unconscious.

He stood there panting for a second. Wow, did he really do that? Did he just dispatch two of the sages in thirty seconds? That was amazing! He was like zap, bam, pow, Game over evil minions!

He shrunk his staff back down to a crystal and put it on his neck again. Then he took his braided chain and activated its charm. It lengthened until he had a very long coil of unbreakable chain. He trussed up Dagoru neatly with one end and shoved her in the corner. Sorion was a little harder though.

"Damn you! Damn you!" he screamed as he thrashed around on the floor, still blind "May Gannondorf feast on your intestines!"

"He's evil, but he's not a re-dead." Zedar said and grabbed Sorion's wrist "Also, he happens to be an idiotic teenager."

He stopped struggling. Zedar quickly tied him up before he started again. Then Sorion started laughing.

"You Fool!" he giggled "Fool! You have no idea what has happened!"

"You're right, being stuck in a bubble does make you a little behind the times" he said good naturedly. Sorion was just blowing steam.

"Look in the dish" Sorion smiled savagely "And you will see that my true master has arrived at last!"

The seeing dish! Zedar raced over to the table. By the Goddesses! Linnet had black tentacles shooting out of her back! Three of them were wrapped around Rebecca's neck and they lifted her off the floor! This was very bad!

Then Rebecca raised her arm. She fired something into Linnet's face which exploded into whirlwind. Linnet dropped her and flailed wildly at the winds that encased her head. Rebecca staggered back from the spluttering sorceress and blocked a swing from Maurice's broadsword.

Zedar gasped. That breast plate, that weapon! Maurice was using Gannondorf's armor and sword! But that was impossible, only Gannondorf could wield his own sword.

Sorion lay giggling on the floor. "See? I told you! Lord Gannondorf is back! He'll crush you and that pitiful Bearer!"

"Quite enough out of you" Zedar said calmly and kicked Sorion in the head. It rebounded off the wall and was silent. Zedar was breathing hard. He had to get out of here and help Rebecca! Well he knew one thing that would help. He picked up Dagoru's sword and walked towards the sage's cells.

--

Rebecca warily circled Gannondorf. Rebecca knew that his armor was weak on the sides and where the legs met the body. All she had to do was wait for an opening and- Gannondorf whipped his sword around, aiming to decapitate. NOW! She ducked, rolled, and came up, bringing the sword up along his side.

"AIEEEE" she screamed in pain as several sharp things embedded themselves in her back. She had turned her back on Linnet too long! The sharpened tentacles of magic twisted deeper into her flesh. She gritted her teeth and used her green magic. She teleported three feet away making sure her back was to the dungeon door.

"This is the end of the road for you!" Linnet said triumphantly. Rebecca was shaking badly. Oh man, she couldn't take another hit like that! The tentacles all raced forward. Rebecca tried to put her shield up but it failed. Not enough magic! She closed her eyes. This was the end!

… um, the end? Not the end?

Rebecca squinted and flinched when she saw that the black spears were maybe a half an inch from her face. They were trembling and suddenly they shot back three feet. They shot back another five feet. Suddenly they disappeared all together.

"What- What's happening!" she screeched. She thrust her arms forward, like casting a spell. She tried chanting something under her breath. When that failed she looked up in alarm at the door. "The prisoners! MY POWERS!" she wailed. Then she looked at Rebecca terrified.

No powers, just the way Rebecca liked it.

Rebecca took a shaky step forward. The voice must have done something, because the bleeding from her back was slowing down. She was still lightheaded from all the blood loss though.

At the second step forward, Linnet bolted. "Not on your_ life!_" Rebecca shouted and reached for her seed shooter. But before she could even touch it, a sword went whistling through the air. It bit deep into Linnet's side and she went down with a crash.

Gannondorf walked slowly to Linnet's side. "Please…" she whimpered as blood pooled around her.

"As new King of Hyrule, I don't need Queen Linnet" he said coldly. He wrenched his sword out of Linnet and she screamed in pain. Rebecca finally loaded the shooter as Gannondorf raised his sword for a finishing blow. She shot a seed at him and the sword clattered out of his hand.

"How could you!" Rebecca demanded shakily "How could you kill one of your own henchmen?!"

"Don't be sanctimonious with me, Bearer." Gannondorf growled. "You were about to kill her yourself. "

She couldn't deny that. She lowered the gun and leaned back against the wall. Why the hell did she do that? Why save Linnet? Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Gannondorf turned to face her. "I have no need for a sorceress, either. I can feel my old powers returning to me." He said and put his hands in front of him. A ball of dark energy slowly bloomed in his hands. He smiled at Rebecca wickedly "I'll serve first, shall I?"

Not Ping Pong again! Rebecca didn't think she was up to launching the ball back to him. Did she have any magic left? Yes, just enough for one more spell. She sheathed her sword and concentrated on Gannondorf. She better make this good.

He fired it at her. "And… NOW" she warped forward and to the left and the ball struck the prison doors. The black energy fizzled and seemed to go out. There was a pause. Then a loud bang and a roar came from the doors and they disintegrated into dust.

"We're free!" someone shouted. Four figures raced out of the smoke.

"By the goddesses, what's happening?"

"There he is, Get him!" Junior roared. It was the sages, they were free! Then she saw Zedar come out of the room. Oh crap, he was not going to want to see his sister dying on the floor, no matter how evil she was.

"Zedar, over here!" She called "Let the Sages get Gannondorf, you can help me-"

She had no idea what she was going to say, but she didn't get to finish her sentence. Another explosion rocked the room and the three sages were sent flying. Both Rebecca and Zedar were knocked to their knees. Gannondorf was left standing in a crater, unscathed. "You really think just three sages can bind me? Three weak sages at that!" he started to laugh again, and then suddenly stopped.

"And on top of that" He smiled widely and walked towards Rebecca and Zedar. "All the pieces of tri-force are here! How kind of you to bring them all to one place." they scrambled back franticly until they hit the wall. Gannondorf stood over them, took off his gauntlet, and showed them the back of his hand.

The tri-force piece on his hand pulsed with golden light. Rebecca looked at her own hand. It responded with its own light, and then faded away completely. What happened! It was gone! She looked up again and all three pieces of the tri-force were joined above Ganondorf's head.

He reached up and the tri-force came to rest in his hands. "Once again I have the tri-force! Once again will I rule this land with an iron fist! HYRULE IS MINE!"

"No… No…" Zedar moaned. He was frozen with shock and terror. Rebecca looked up into Gannondorf's horrible face. She realized that it had changed, that it was really Gannondorf's face and no longer Maurice's. It was even more frightening than when she fought his body, with flaming orange hair, deep green skin and large red eyes.

Those eyes! Once again those horrible red eyes stabbed into her own. Yet just as they were terrifying they also seemed familiar.

"The Mural… That was you in the mural!" those eyes that had stared up from the misty purple background surrounded by strange monsters! What else was on the mural?

"Too late." Gannondorf lowered his arms so the tri-force was level with his chest. They started glowing red instead of golden, and a ball of energy started forming in the center. "The last line of Hyrule will die, and I will become its new ruler."

"NO!" Rebecca screamed defiance. She had unsheathed her sword. Now she understood exactly what she had to do! With one lung she thrust herself forward and sunk the sword right into the middle of the tri-force.

It turned golden again. Gannondorf looked livid "What have you done…" Rebecca was startled at the weakness of his voice, and apparently so was Gannondorf. He looked down and saw that not only was the sword thrust through the tri-force, but had also sunk about six inches into his chest. "You… how… _impossible_."

He tipped and fell backwards. The sword still in him and the tri-force now parallel to the floor. It changed color gain, and glowed bright white. It shot a beam of light, through the ceiling, out of the castle, calling something.

And the world blinked.


	15. We Pass Judgement

We pass judgment

We pass judgment

At least, that was how Rebecca later recalled it. Everything shifted. The world went out, and suddenly they were in a different place. A very different place.

They were all standing on a fountain of water, only the water was streaming down from an endless abyss, hitting the fountain, and falling into the endless abyss below without any sound. The fountain was simply hovering in nothingness. Others like it were floating all around them.

And by all, she meant everyone. All the sages were standing in a circle, good and bad, including Saria. Gannondorf and Linnet were standing with them, both looking very much alive, but absolutely terrified.

Before she could even begin to understand what was happening, there was a deep chime. Rebecca looked up and saw that the tri-force and sword were still giving off light. Then three even brighter circles of light descended, each taking up position on one of the triangles. There was a silent explosion of white light, and when the light faded, everyone could see the three golden statues, each standing on there own triangle.

They were all identical. They each were tall human statues, with arms folded on their chests and long pointed hair that curved from their heads. Each one faced outward to the point of their triangle so they could see the circle of people around them.

"_We, the Goddesses, have been called"_ the statues all spoke in one voice that was almost painful to hear. It rang inside Rebecca's head like a thousand bells. It seemed to be worse for some however. Gannondorf, Linnet, and Sorion all fell to their knees and clapped their hands over their ears. _"And we are ready to pass judgment to return balance to Hyrule."_

The goddesses! This must be Nayru, Farore and Din that everyone must have been talking about! She hoped they didn't have a 'use name in vain' rule or some of them would be in trouble.

"_First, we must deal with the ultimate of evil, the dark King Gannondorf"_ all the statues whirled around to face him. _"We deemed the sages strong enough to defeat you, but you escaped. We are here so you do not escape a second time. We will now pass judgment."_

Gannondorf, still kneeling, looked up at the goddesses with a mixture of awe and resignation on his face. "I… I think this is it." He said softly to himself. "I challenged the gods… and I think I lost."

"_Yes, you have"_ Gannondorf bowed his head to the goddesses. All at once, bright circles of colors appeared where the eyes should have been on the statues. Three colors of light, red, blue, and green, shot from the statues. It seemed to consume Gannondorf and he was cut off from sight. For several moments, everyone watched the point at where the beams connected. Then the light was gone and a frightened and shaking Maurice was left where Gannondorf once stood.

"_Boy from another world"_ the goddesses said sternly, all facing him _"Do you now understand what true evil is?"_ Maurice violently nodded his head. _"Then you know what you must do. Return to your home and find a new direction in your life."_

"What! That's it?" Rebecca blurted out. She instantly regretted it as all three goddesses spun to face her.

"_Are you troubled by our judgment, child?"_ they asked, not unkindly.

"He's a murderer! He's done nothing good his entire life! Why should he be given a second chance?"

"_Then you may give him the same fate as Gannondorf if you wish. He was obliterated from all time and space, ripped to the tiniest particles and left to wander this realm for eternity. Simply say the word and we will do the same to him."_

Rebecca Looked at Maurice. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see his usual evil smirking face. All she could see was a quivering mass on the floor, eyes wide in fear. Ah crap, she couldn't do that to him. He wasn't worth the effort.

_If you don't stop glaring at him like that, he's going to pee his pants._ That wasn't the goddesses though, that was the voice. It sounded much more cheerful than she had ever heard it before.

For the first time, one of the goddesses spoke on her own. The one closest to her turned ever so slightly and said _"Child, you no longer need to hide. The threat is over"_

_What? Oh sorry, force of habit._ There was a small pop near her head and a white fuzz ball was fluttering over her shoulder. It flew in front of her face "Hey, we've never been properly introduced. I'm Pali."

"Um, hi? Oh" she brushed the fairy out of her face and it jingled in annoyance "Goddesses, I believe that your judgment is just." She said, giving Maurice a hard long look. "I just think there should be a little something extra added."

"_And what is that?"_

"When he returns home, make sure no one remembers him" Said Rebecca firmly. "He always enjoyed being the big boss. Now he can start on the bottom of the food chain again."

"_That is a wise decision. We shall now pass judgment" _The goddesses all faced Maurice again and their eyes flew open. Maurice screamed as he too was engulfed in their eye beams. Then he was gone. All the statues pivoted again, and faced Linnet.

"_You are the worst of betrayers, Linnet Hyrule_." They spoke in their ringing voices. "_You have betrayed your country, betrayed your family, and betrayed even yourself. Have you anything to say in your defense_?"

Linnet also looked up at the statues. Suddenly, she was not so terrible and cunning anymore. She seemed like a child who had just realized her nightlight went out and was waiting for the closet monster to get her. "W-will it hurt?" she whispered. "Being, y'know ripped from t-time and space?"

"_My child_," The statues tones seemed to have softened ever so slightly but were still firm _"the evil that was Gannondorf can never be matched again and we would not give his punishment to you. It is true that you have committed some grave sins, but you will be given ample time to reflect upon your mistakes."_

Linnet's mouth fell open "Goddesses?" she whispered in shock.

"_You will be the new guardian of the tri-force, sealed in the chamber of time. You will remain here for the next ten thousand years and protect the tri-force from all who seek it for vain glory or greed. Do you think this is fitting?_"

"Yes goddesses, as you command." Linnet stood.

"_We will now pass judgment_."

A soft light came, not from the Goddesses, but from above. It shone on Linnet, and she slowly rose upwards into the darkness. Before she was out of sight she murmured "Thank you" then she was gone.

"The traitor sages" The goddesses said, all of the anger back in their voices. "Step forward, Sorion, Dagoru, and Link Junior."

Dagoru and Junior obeyed, Junior shaking visibly and Dagoru with head bowed, not showing her face. Sorion however, leapt to his feet and laughed wildly.

"I will not!" he screeched "I will not follow you, makers of light! I am of the darkness, and I will not bow to you!" he threw up his hands and black fire poured from his palms, racing towards the statues.

"_FOOL, YOU DARE?_" when Rebecca thought the Goddesses sounded angry before, she was wrong. Their fury knocked everyone off their feet and pressed them hard into the ground. "_YOU DARE MISUES OUR GIFT OF SHADOWS?"_

The fire had vanished when Sorion was knocked down. All of the statues eyes were already open, burning him with their combined gazes.

"_You speak as if the shadows could be twisted and used to your evil bidding. Darkness does not wage war and shades do not flee from a light. Shadows help the light! The night is of healing and regeneration, not death. The body rests and magic is renewed every evening. Would darkness not come things would wither and turn to ash underneath the ever bright sun. Few people know this, but as a sage you should have know the truth since the power entered your body. You are remiss in your duties, Sage, and as such, you will be punished."_

Sorion whimpered in pain and fear "No, I beg of you…"

"_Why are you afraid? We shall send you to a place where you can fully enjoy your point of view. Where only darkness can come to your aid and people feel nothing but despair."_

Sorion squirmed on the spot. "No! Not the Dark Realm, not the Dark Realm! Please, have mercy!"

"_There is no mercy for one who scorns us. We shall pass judgment!_" again the beams shot out of their eyes. Sorion screamed "NO!" and tried to get up to flee, but it was pointless. The light engulfed him and he was gone.

"_Sage of Sands, shall you be as impudent as your fellow conspirator? Stand up!_" The goddesses were still furious, but they let everyone stand again. "_What do you say in your defense?_"

"I- I say pick someone else for your sage." She said and her voice broke. She raised her head and looked at the goddesses. Rebecca was shocked to see that she had tears on her face. "A bastard child of a whore has no right to wield such power. Everyone from my mother to the village leader has said so, and only now I see that it is the truth." She hung her head again, tears flowing freely. "I thought if I had faithfully served a new ruler, he would see my worth, but now I know that it is pointless. I have failed everyone."

For once the Goddesses remained silent for a moment before answering. "_Dagoru, Look at us._" this time their voices were soft and kinder than Rebecca had ever heard them. She looked up, still crying "_We did not pick you for your lineage. We picked you for your fine swordsmanship and riding skills, for your love of the desert, and for being able to find the good in others. We see that the people that were closest to you warped the last great gift, so that you no longer see any good in yourself. Our daughter, we forgive you._"

That did it. With a howl Dagoru broke down and started weeping in earnest. "_But we also see that you need help in your journey to become a true sage. You have not used your powers the entire time you fought. Is it because you cannot use them properly?_" Dagoru nodded, her hands covering her face. The statues turned to face Saria. "_Saria, as oldest and wisest, will you help your sister sage to become truly worthy of her powers?"_

"As you wish" Saria said. She was crying as well "If I had only known how much she had suffered, I would have intervened a long time ago."

"_We know." _They turned back to face the crying girl._ "Dagoru, you shall now live in the forest and receive daily training until you have mastered your powers and regained your confidence. We shall pass judgment_" they did not open their eyes, but Dagoru faded from sight, still sitting on the fountain floor and crying softly.

The goddesses were silent again for a moment, and then turned to face Junior. He blurted out "I don't know why I'm being punished!" he instantly clapped a hand over his mouth, looking scared.

"_You don't, do you?_" the edge of anger had returned to their voices. "_Do you forget that you did nothing to help your brother and sister sages when they were captured?"_

"Linnet" he gasped "Linnet said that they were traitors, traitors that had to be locked up."

"_Ignorance is no excuse_." The goddesses said sternly. "_Could you not tell that something was wrong? That the two Sages you betrayed had done nothing against the royal family?_"

"I- I see that now" he said, looking pleadingly up at the goddesses "But how could I have known, When the royal family and the two other sages agreed. How could I have gone against the Queen of Hyrule?"

"_She was not rightful Queen and you knew it!_" the goddesses roared. "_Your sniveling is pathetic! Do not blame others for your mistakes!_"

With a little squeak, junior fell to the floor. What sounded like a snort of disgust came from the goddesses "_Fainted_" they muttered angrily. "_His father would have been so proud. Link Junior_", they said raising their voices again "_For your blindness and lack of courage, we deem you unfit to be the Sage of Fire. We will take your powers, and give them to a better bearer. We shall pass judgment!_" again the eyes opened and shot at Junior. He remained unconscious as he disappeared from view.

Then one of the statues swung independently of the others. It looked around at the remaining people, Rebecca, Zedar, Saria, Kikaru, and Ahna. It was the one that always had the red eyes, Rebecca noted. Then it spoke softly, though in the silent chamber it was still clearly audible. "Hey, it's only the good guys now. What do you say we ditch the high and mighty look?"

"We still have to inspire fear and awe, we went over this!" the one with the blue eyes shot back.

"But this form is so uncomfortable." the third green eyed one sighed "I'm sure they can keep a secret"

"Alright, alright, but if the legends change because of it, I'm never forgiving you two!" said the blue one moodily. The golden statues were engulfed with light, this time the light was red, green, and blue respectively. When the light vanished, three beautiful women stood in their place.

Din stretched, her short red shirt exposing a pierced belly button and sat crossed legged on her piece of triangle "Oh yeah, that's much better."

Farore swung her arms in a circle and cracked her neck making her short green hair bounce. She wore a short stylishly cut dress that was still modest. "I really don't see why people would think us less impressive when we look like this."

"Oh really?" Nayru was wearing a long flowing blue dress with a gauzy shawl. She stood with her arms crossed with a severe look on her noble face.

Zedar looked at Rebecca shocked. Obviously he hadn't thought that Goddesses could be so informal, but it made sense to her. Actually, she thought she liked these forms better than the imposing statues. Now they had style.

"O.K." Din said "Now that we have all that unpleasantness out of the way we can hand out door prizes. Anah, you're up first."

"Me?" Ahna looked down at her hands "But, goddesses… I didn't do anything. I mean, I picked the right side, but I was captured, and then blown up by Gannondorf."

"Hmmm, well that's true from what you know." Nayru said. "But Rebecca did get a little help from you. Isn't that right?"

"Oh yeah! Ahna, I watched you student play thingy." Rebecca said "and honestly, it was a lot of help. That was the first straight answer I got out of this crazy place."

Ahna gave her a small smile "Be that as it may, I don't see how-"

"You Zora are too modest" Din interrupted exasperated "Just make a wish already, but nothing too extravagant"

Ahna didn't waste anytime "There's still a huge iceberg in the middle of the domain. It makes the water miserably cold. Can you do something about it?"

"Done" the goddess said. "You want to go home now? No eye beams, we promise."

Ahna smiled "that would be nice" Din waved her hand and she vanished.

"Kikaru" Nayru said "For helping Rebecca in her fight in the Temple of light, you also get a wish."

"All I want for is a cup of red king tea, a good book, and no more blasted adventures." He said grumpily rubbing his wrist. "My arthritis is acting up something horrible! I never want to leave my house again!"

Nayru smiled "I think we can accommodate you." she waved her hand and Kikaru also vanished.

"Saria, we apologize for giving you a task instead of a reward" Farore said "But if you make a wish that does not interfere with Dagoru's training, we can still grant it."

Saria shook her head "I'm honored that you let me help, and the only wish I want won't interfere."

"I already know it." She smiled and raised her hand "Shall I go ahead?"

"Yes" Saria was covered in opaque green magic. It remained for a moment, and then blew away like a mist. Rebecca looked around for a second; thinking they already made her disappear then she heard a cry of delight from around her knees. She stared at the cute green haired child that was standing where Saria was a moment before.

"No more boobs, no more periods, no more _boys_!" She said excitedly examining her new small body "I'm a Kokiri again! Yahoo!" she jumped in the air and whooped "Thank you goddesses! Can I go see my friends now?"

"Glad you're happy" Farore grinned and waved her hand and Saria disappeared.

"And now, the triumphant heroes!" Din said rubbing her hands together. "Alright Zedar, you're up. What do you want?"

"Hold up, hold up, _hold up!_" Pali had remained silent since Rebecca had brushed him out of the way, but now he flew to the forefront. "You're going in order of importance aren't you, from least to most? So were you planning on skipping over me?"

Din raised her eyebrows. "Well, that's true. We were going in order of importance. Maybe we should have done you first."

"What?" Pali shook and jingled with rage. "Why am I not important? I'm the one that save your precious hero again and again. She wouldn't be alive if it weren't for me!"

Nayru looked puzzled. "But you're just a fairy! What could you possibly want, other than to be with your human?"

"Other than to be with my- Lady, you must not have just spent three months with this girl. She's not the friendliest person to be with; particularly if she thinks you're a voice in her head." Rebecca glared at him, but he was swooping around in agitation. "C'mon, it's only fair! I did a lot of work to keep this little lady safe. I deserve a wish."

Farore looked amused "O.K. then, what does little Pali want?"

"'little Pali' wants you to lift the curse you put on the Great Fairy of the Castle."

The goddesses looked outraged "She disobeyed a direct order, from _us_" Din said angrily.

"She was only trying to help! She saved Saria's life! And if you don't think I wouldn't stand up to you for my ruler, you are dead wrong." Pali flew right in front of Din's face. "You want to see an angry fairy? You don't want to see an angry fairy!" and he bopped her on the nose.

Din looked stonily at the little fairy. Rebecca thought for sure that Pali was going to be smote into a thousand pieces. Then her lips twisted, the eyes crinkled, and Din burst out laughing. "What a loyal subject! I'm sorry I misjudged you Pali. It seems that you _would_ do anything for your leader, and such a leader must be rare."

"You bet. She's courageous, strong, and above all beautiful." Both Rebecca and Zedar snorted in unison, but the fairy ignored them "She did what she thought was right, and you shouldn't punish her for that."

"Then we shall lift the sleeping curse on the great fairy" said Nayru. "You have vouched for her, and we expect her to remain in the laws of that we have set for all fairies for the next hundred thousand years. If not, then we cannot forgive another transgression."

"And that's all I wanted." Pali said sounding relived. "Thank you Goddesses, you kindness shall not be forgotten." Din waved her hand and the fairy vanished.

"That was interesting." Said Farore, "but now it really is your turn, Zedar. What do you want for a wish?"

Zedar looked up worriedly at the goddesses. "You can grant anything I want, right?"

"Anything in our power to grant, so yeah, anything"

Zedar clenched his hands "Then, I want them back."

"A little more specific dear" Said Farore

"I want my family back" Zedar said, his face hardening "My parents, my grand parents, all of them."

Nayru looked serious. "That is a tricky wish, Zedar. We must discuss for a moment."

"I thought you said you could grant anything!" he said anguished

"We must take into account what the dead want." Said Nayru "Despite the intrigue, Lord Link and your father both died of natural causes after long lives. They will not want to come back."

"They wouldn't want to come back… even to come back for me?" Zedar whispered blinking back tears

"Nayru, stop it. Give it to him from 'the glass is half full' perspective!" Din cried "Zedar, listen up. Zelda was murdered, so she'll be happy to return and live out her remaining years. Also, your mother never died."

"Mom's alive? Let me see her!" Zedar said eagerly. Farore drew a circle in the air with her hands and a scene appeared. Zedar cried out "It's her!"

"What? No it isn't!" Rebecca was absolutely flabbergasted "That's _my_ mom!"

Her mother was crouched over the table with the mural in the museum. She was a thin woman, with blond hair and a beautiful face. Only now her eyes were bloodshot and had bags that made her look like a raccoon. She was crying and making hand signs over it the mural. "Please, take me back" she was sobbing. "You worked for my husband and for my daughter, why won't you work for me Goddess curse it! Take me back!"

Zedar and Rebecca looked at one another in horror. "That's my mother" he said shakily

"No, it's my mother."

They continued staring, like they were seeing each other for the first time. "No fucking way!" Rebecca cried.

"She told me she was pregnant, right before she left." Zedar stuffed a fist in his mouth to stop himself from crying so the words came out muffled. "She didn't tell anyone else, because dad would have stopped her from adventuring."

"Well, isn't this a nice turn of events!" Din said happily clapping her hands together. "Even we didn't see this! Wow, you guys are really lucky! It's not every day that you meet a long lost sibling!"

"It's like one of those soap operas from your world." Nayru said smiling at Rebecca "Only this time it was a total surprise. We lost track of princess Daphne ever since she left on that fateful trip to find a way out of Hyrule."

"I suppose half a wish is better than no wish at all" Zedar said happily. "Bring back Grandma Zelda and my-" he looked at Rebecca with a huge dopey grin on his face "I mean _our_ mother"

Rebecca had been worrying about this, but now that she knew her mother was coming here, she had no problem with what she was about to do. "Goddesses, do you want to hear my wish?"

"And that is?" asked Farore.

"To stay here of course, in Hyrule." She lowered her voice "And if you could give me an adventure that isn't so hard and painful, I wouldn't mind that either."

"We'll see what we can do." Said Din still beaming.

"I think it's time to say goodbye." Said Nayru sadly. "We can't thank you enough for your hard work, Prince Zedar and Princess Rebecca."

"Sayonara. We might see you again, but probably not till you've died." Said Din standing up.

"We'll keep an eye on you." said Farore, "But nothing this big won't happen again, At least not for a long while."

"Thank you for everything" Zedar said happily.

Rebecca simply stood there dazed with happiness as the goddesses all raised their hands and sent them home.

Epilogue

"No, no, no, you have to guide with your knees! You're going to fall off if you just sit there like a bag of flour!"

"Shut up Pali, you don't have to learn this stuff! You can fly!" Rebecca gripped the horse's sides as well as she could, but then the horse shied and she nearly fell off.

"You pulled the reins too hard by accident." Zedar rode beside her and loosened the leather straps in her hand. "These are just for guiding. Little movements should do the trick. This horse is very well trained."

"And your posture is terrible, I keep telling you!" Her mother rode up and dug her knuckles into the small of her back. Rebecca yelped and sat up straight. "The horse can tell if you're a bad rider, but if you sit straight it won't be so nervous"

"Knock it off!" Rebecca cried in frustration. "Honestly, I can figure it out on my own! I'm smarter than a stupid horse!"

"Are you sure?" Zedar grinned evilly. "It's really giving you a run for your rupees"

Rebecca cuffed him lightly on the head "You were the one that suggested it, moron. I don't need to learn how to ride a horse! I can do the warp thingy whenever I want to go visit the Sages!"

"But Rebecca" Mom said smiling "You accepted his offer with great gusto as I recalled. Besides, you'll miss all the great sight if you keep using Farore's wind. And how would the people at Lon Lon feel if you gave back their prize mare?" she shook her head "Break Romani's heart it would."

"Fine" snarled Rebecca as the horse shied again. "I'll do it just to prove I can. Giddy up!" she said and dug her heels in. The horse took of like a bullet with Rebecca screaming "Whoa, wait, how do you stop this thing?"

Zedar sighed. "Better get her before she winds up all the way over in Geradu valley again."

"No wait." His mom grabbed the reins of his horse before he could leave. "She could do with a lesson in rashness. I want to talk with you for awhile. Alone."

They rode along the side of the river in silence for a while then his mom said "I saw you leaving with flowers again. Are they still for her?"

"Yes."

"She's not dead you know."

"That's not the reason."

"Then what is?"

Zedar was silent. His mother looked worried. "It's that…" he said slowly "She's still alive. And the goddesses said this was a time of reflection. And I think that's what Linnet wanted." He swallowed a lump in his throat "She tried to kill me and Rebecca… but she's still my sister. I wanted her to know that I forgive her."

"Oh sweetie, she knows" His mom hugged him as well as she could from the back of the horse. "It's hard for me too, seeing what she became before I left. But all I have to do is remember her favorite little song when she was a baby."

Zedar gave a watery smile "The one about the stinky moblin?"

She smiled too "And he didn't take a bath or shower for a year and that was why he was feared."

He laughed. It was good to remember the better times with Linnet than the end. Sometimes he still had nightmares about the time with the goddesses, but only as the foreboding and punishing golden statues.

They talked for a little while more. About what they should get for Zelda's seventieth birthday, or if they would go check up on Dagoru today and see how her training was going. It was only when they saw a cloud of dust and heard a loud yell that they realized that Rebecca was galloping back at full pace, her stance perfect and her face excited.

"Guys, Guys!" She screamed "Giant pig things are attacking the Geradu fortress! Where's my sword, where's my shooter!"

Their mother raised her eyebrows at Zedar. He shrugged apologetically. "Well, Din said she could see what she could do."

"Are you going to go too?"

"Yeah, I'll make sure hot head here doesn't get into trouble." He kissed her on the cheek and joined his sister in a mad dash to the castle.

Daphne watched as her two children raced away. She couldn't have been happier if she was in heaven after all those long years trapped in that other world. "I'm home." She said to herself. "And you know, I can't let the kids have all the fun. I wonder if Mom kept my poleax sharp for me..." She pushed her horse into a gallop and prepared for some real quality time with the kids.


End file.
